


Ain't No Rest for the Wicked

by EverythingIsNightvale



Category: IT (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Butch Bowers A-Plus Parenting, Canonical Child Abuse, Emotional Constipation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends, Friendship, Homophobia, M/M, Secret Relationship, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-01-18 11:06:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 50,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12386838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverythingIsNightvale/pseuds/EverythingIsNightvale
Summary: Patrick didn't die in the sewer. Instead, he survived. Now Henry and the gang find themselves in the worst summer of their lives. How are they supposed to fight something that makes their deepest fears a reality?ORThe Bowers Gang/Losers Club team up story that nobody asked for.





	1. Patrick Hockstetter Takes a Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, I just wanted to state for the record that I am using movie interpretations of the characters. I may draw some inspiration from the book, but they characters aren't exactly the same. We only see a glimps of these characters during the film, so I'm using my own interpretation and head canons. So if they seem OOC from something they would do in the book, this is why.
> 
> There may be additional warnings in each chapter, I'll always have them listed here. There are no additional warnings for this chapter.
> 
> Please enjoy!

Patrick Hockstetter should feel thankful that he was still alive. He should, but he didn’t. Fear still gripped at his chest tighter than it ever had before in his almost 16 years of life. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. He mind was racing too fast for him to keep up. His whole body was shaking as he held on to the metal pipe he had found beneath the sewer water. The pipe had long since began to rust and there were bits of the metal that had flaked off, leaving sharp jagged sections around the pipe. His hold on his makeshift weapon was so tight that these edges cut the palms of his hands, making them slick with blood.

It was really a stroke of dumb luck that Patrick was able to get away at all. He had been cornered. It was just him, the clown, and that damn balloon. There was something unnatural about the way it sat suspended in the air. It wasn’t like any helium balloon he had ever seen, it was different. It was almost like it was floating. It was unsettling to say the least. Almost as unsettling as the corpses that had been chasing him moments before.

Patrick was ready to pray to all the gods he didn’t believe in when Belch’s voice echoed down the sewer tunnels.

“Patrick, you in there?”

That had been enough. The clown turned his head in the direction of the sound and Patrick took advantage of the distraction and swung. He smashed into the things head with all of the strength he could muster. His arms hurt as the metal he was holding shook with the force of the blow, but he ignored the pain and ran. He didn’t stop running until he slammed right into Belch, who was waiting at the opening of the sewer.

“Patrick what the hell?” Belch exclaimed from his new place on the ground.

Patrick scrambled to his feet, looking down the tunnel expecting to see something running after him. He couldn’t see anything, but he didn’t allow himself to relax.

“Come on, get up. We’ve gotta go.” Patrick tugged on his friend’s arm trying to pull him to his feet.

As Belch stood he noticed the blood that covered Patrick’s face. “Shit man what happened to you?”

“We have to get out of here. Now!” Belch was taking too long, Patrick wasn’t about to die while he waited for his friend to get a clue and start moving. He took off running in the direction of what he hoped was the car. He needed to be far away from here as soon as possible.

Belch paused for a second, confused, and watched Patrick run, before taking off in a jog after him. If there was something down there that scared Patrick this bad, then there was no way it was good.

By the time Belch caught up with Patrick, Patrick had dropped to his knees, clinging onto a nearby tree for support as he threw up everything that was in his stomach. Belch knelt beside him and brushed his hair out of his face. He rubbed a gentle hand on Patrick’s back as he continued to heave, even after he had gotten everything out. It was odd for Belch to be this gentle with Patrick, but it was even odder still that Patrick didn’t make any move to stop the comforting touch. It seemed that he had a habit of shying away from any contact that wasn’t violent. Even his hugs, on the rare occasions he gave them, were filled with wandering hands in unwanted areas. They usually ended with Patrick getting shoved or a punch to the jaw. He would usually jerk away from gentle touches as if he had been burned. He didn’t even like it if Vic’s leg brushed his when they were crammed in the back of the Trans Am. Now he allowed the touches. Hell, Belch figured he even welcomed them at the moment. 

Then Patrick did something more surprising still. Patrick began sobbing. Not just a few tears, but full on sobbing. Belch wasn’t sure what he should do. He had known Patrick since Kindergarten and not once had he seen him cry. Not even when he had jumped off the swing set in second grade and broke his ankle. 

He helped Patrick move to sit down so the other boy wouldn’t accidentally fall into his own sick. Patrick pressed his back against the tree and curled his legs up into his chest, trying to make himself as small as possible, still clutching onto the pipe he had found earlier for dear life.

Belch looked up as he heard footsteps approaching. “Hey did you guys find - wait, what the fuck happened to you?” Henry cut himself off once he was close enough to see Patrick clearly. Vic followed close behind Henry, both were covered in dirt from both their roll down the hill and their search for Henry’s knife.

When Patrick didn’t answer Henry’s question Belch spoke up. “He came running out of the sewers like a bat out of hell. He hasn’t told me what he saw, but it freaked him out.”

Patrick’s grip on his knees tightened. Did Belch really have to talk about him like he wasn’t sitting right there? Did he really need to say anything about this at all? Patrick wanted to leave this place. He wanted to stand up and walk far away, but he couldn’t make himself move. He had stopped sobbing, now tears just slid silently down his cheeks. His whole body trembled as he sat there. Patrick wished that he had worn a longer sleeved shirt, or maybe brought a jacket. It had been warm when he left the house this morning, when had it gotten so cold? 

Belch and Henry looked at Vic expectantly. Vic raised an eyebrow and Henry motioned to Patrick. Victor sighed. Their silent conversation told Victor one thing, he was now expected to calm Patrick down. This wasn’t anything new. When Patrick worked himself up, Vic was usually the one to talk him down. This was different though. Patrick wasn’t talking about lighting their school on fire while in a drunken stupor. He was very obviously in distress, maybe even in shock, Victor wasn’t equipped to handle this. None of them were.

“Patrick.” Victor said, kneeling in front of him. He laid a hand on Patrick’s shoulder, and the other didn’t react. He kept staring in front of him. “Can I have this?” Victor used his free hand to grab the pipe that Patrick was still holding.

Patrick felt weird. His whole body felt like it was blurry. He couldn’t think of a better way to describe it. He could tell Victor was talking to him but it felt off. Victor wanted to take his weapon. That was fine. That was okay. He wasn’t alone anymore. He was faster than all of them. If that thing came back he could get away.

Slowly, Patrick released his grip and let Victor take the pipe from him. Victor quickly tossed it to the side, out of reach. He swore as he looked at Patrick’s hands.

“Hate to say this, but you might need a tetanus shot.” Victor said, hoping still to get some sort of reaction out of his friend.

“What he needs is a shower. He smells like a sewer and looks like a Nightmare on Elm Street victim.” Victor glared at Henry, but he didn’t disagree. He wasn’t any sort of doctor, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew mixing sewer water and open wounds was not a good idea. They needed to get Patrick clean and bandaged sooner rather than later.

“Come on, let’s get him to the car.” Patrick felt like he was going through the motions as Vic helped him to stand and walked him to the car. They had to go a different way then they came. The hill they fell down was too steep to climb up, but they got to the car eventually.

“You think it was some sort of psychotic breakdown or something?” Henry whispered to Vic as they walked.

Vic shushed him. It was no secret that Patrick had difficulties with his mental health, but he had to constantly deal with strangers questioning his sanity, he shouldn’t have to deal with it from his friends too.

“There’s a blanket in the trunk. Spread it out before Patrick sits, I don’t want him ruining the seats.” Belch said, as the car came into view.  
“That’s seriously what you’re worried about?” Vic asked, his irritation evident. 

“Do you want to ride around in a car that smells like shit for the rest of high school?” Belch asked him and Victor rolled his eyes.

He knew his friends cared about Patrick. If they didn’t they would’ve left him in the woods to sort himself out. They just had a terrible way of showing it. That way being not showing it at all. Feelings were almost a taboo subject when the group got together. Vic wasn’t exactly jumping to share his deepest most thoughts and feelings with the group. He didn’t have a death wish, but every so often he wished that they weren’t all so afraid to show concern.   
Victor did as Belch asked and spread the blanket down across the back seat before helping Patrick inside. He didn’t bother with seat belts. They never wore them anyway.

They drove to Victor’s house, which is the only one guaranteed to be parent free at this time. The drive there was quiet and awkward. No one moved to turn up the radio, or even put in a tape. Henry didn’t yell at people through the window as they passed by. It was tense. The ten minute drive seemed to stretch on into hours, until they finally arrived.

Victor gave Patrick a clean towel and a pair of pajama bottoms that he knew would fit and guided his friend to the bathroom. The other 3 waited in Vic’s bedroom and didn’t let out a collective sigh until they heard the shower start running.

“What the fuck.” Belch breathed out, the first one to break the silence. “I’ve never seen Patrick that scared before.”

“I’ve never seen Patrick scared before period.” That was saying something. Henry had known Patrick the longest and was arguably the closest to him. “What ever happened must be some serious shit.”

“Do you think that kid attacked him?” Vic asked.

It took Henry a little bit to figure out which kid Victor was referring too. He had forgotten all about the new kid they had been chasing after. He had been ready to kill him up until the point when he had lost his knife. Then he had been far more worried about what his dad would do to him if he came home without it. He couldn’t remember now, what had set him off.

Henry shook his head. “No, whatever freaked Pat out had to have been out for blood. A kid like that probably apologizes for stepping on anthills.”

“People have been going missing left and right.” Belch said. “You don’t think Pat ran into the sicko who’s doing it, do you?”

“Nah, even a psycho killer wouldn’t want to live in the sewers.” Henry laughed.

Victor didn’t laugh though. He sat on his bed and sighed. This wasn’t good. He hated not knowing what to do. This wasn’t a failed math test. This wasn’t something they could help Patrick light on fire and pretend it never happened.

“Hey.” Henry sat next to Victor. “You’re doing that thing again where you worry too much.” Henry moved his hand so the side of it was touching the side of Victor’s. It was as close as they dared to get with an audience. “You don’t stop worrying like that and all your hair is going to fall out.” Henry joked, and Victor snorted a little.

“That’ll probably happen anyway because of all the bleach.” Belch joined in, and all three of them laughed. Victor felt some of the tension begin to leave.

“Hey guys, has this tooth always been chipped?” Patrick asked coming into the room. He pulled his bottom lip away from his mouth to reveal a chipped canine. The other three stared at him in disbelief. “Hm, I gather from your expressions that this is a new addition to my face.”

The blood from his face was gone, and they could now clearly see a gash up by his hair line as well as several more scrapes and scratches along his cheeks and chin.

The shower was still running in the background, but Patrick hadn’t removed any of his clothes yet.

“Patrick.” Belch started.

“I know what you’re thinking. I look like I got in a fight with a lawn mower, but I’m still the best looking one of the bunch.” He smirked.

Vic’s brow furrowed. “Patrick,” He tried.

Patrick cut him off with a sigh. “Fine Vic, you’re right. Everyone knows you’re the prettiest.”

“Patrick!” Henry’s tone left no room for games or jokes. “Are you going to tell us what happened out there?”

Patrick snorted. “You said it yourself Henry. Psychotic break.” He said, his tone bitter.

“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Henry stood up from the bed. 

“Bullshit? Really? I think it’s about time I had one. Everyone knows I’m fucking crazy.” Patrick’s voice grew louder as he spoke until he was full on shouting. Why couldn’t they just drop it? Wasn’t it obvious that it wasn’t something he wanted to fucking talk about?

“We’re not them Patrick!” Henry was shouting now too. “I shouldn’t have made that comment earlier. It was a shitty thing to do. Whatever got you all freaked the fuck out, has us freaked out. You fucking shut down out there! We just -” Henry took a break to calm himself. “We just want to know what happened.”

“Since when are you all about talking about things Bowers?” Patrick asked, and Henry felt himself tense. Patrick had a point. Henry wasn’t all about talking after run-ins with his dad, and his friends never push the issue. They never make him talk about and relive what just happened.

“Fuck it, fine. As long as you’re all good now. We’re good, right guys?” He looked at Belch and Vic who mumbled half hearted agreements.

“Glad we could come to an understanding.” Patrick felt relieved, he hoped it didn’t show on his face.

“Good now go take a fucking shower. Seriously you stink.” Henry shoved him towards the door.

“Really, you think so? Cause I was thinking about bottling it up and selling it as perfume.” He laughed as Henry pushed him.

“Get out Patrick.” Victor said rolling his eyes.

“Why don’t you come with Vicky? I need someone to help me wash my back.” He winked over his shoulder.

With one final shove Henry launched him out the door towards the bathroom, slamming the bedroom door shut behind him. Patrick shook his head. It wasn’t his fault Henry’s buttons were so easy to push. He hummed a song under his breath as he made his way back to the bathroom, that was now filled with steam from the hot water still running. Maybe a shower would be nice.


	2. Feelings and Shit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some conversations are best had when all the world has gone to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional Chapter Warnings: Brief mention of non graphic child abuse AND non graphic infant death.

Patrick had already come to terms with the fact that he would not be sleeping tonight. Maybe he’d never sleep again. He wasn’t sure how long someone could go without sleep before it became dangerous, but he was about to find out. Science would thank him later.

A part of him knew he shouldn’t be ashamed of still feeling afraid. What he saw was fucked up. A larger part of him however, refused to acknowledge any sort of weakness. He had built up a reputation for himself over the years. Now, it wasn’t a good reputation by any means, but he was proud of it. What people thought about him was a reflection of him and how he acted. It had nothing to do with how he looked, who he hung out with, or even who is family was. That wasn’t an easy thing to do.

He ran his fingers through his hair, wincing a bit when they got caught in a tangle. He still smelled like Vic’s fancy soaps. The kind that they gang always made fun of him for using. It smelled too feminine. It wasn’t right for Patrick. It smelled too foreign on him. Not at all like it did on Vic. It meshed perfectly with the scent of menthol cigarettes that lingered around him. Cigarettes that Patrick had taken to stealing for his blond friend since the other was too afraid of being caught to take what he wanted.

Patrick really wanted one of those cigarettes right now. He didn’t smoke, not usually anyway. Sometimes he would steal drags from Vic or Henry, especially if they were drinking. Other times he would snatch the cigarette right out of Henry’s mouth and finish it. Not because he liked it. He just wanted to piss Henry off. It always worked. Henry would bitch and try to grab it back, only to give up after a few minutes and light himself another.

This was the first time Patrick had ever really craved a cigarette. He longed for the sensation that came with the nicotine. The supposed feeling of calm. He needed something to help him calm down enough to wrap his head around what had happened earlier.

A knock on his window brought him out of his thoughts. Patrick jumped at the sudden noise, nearly falling off the bed. The movement made his headboard bang against the wall, the noise echoing throughout the room. He tried to calm himself. His heart was beating unnecessarily fast. He scolded himself for being ridiculous and letting a little noise freak him out so much. There was no way it was that clown. That thing wouldn’t knock. Things like that are like Patrick. They take what they want without asking permission, whether that be cigarette or lives.

“Are you going to let me in or am I going to have to sleep in this damn bush?” Patrick could practically hear the eye rolls in Henry’s voice. Patrick rolled his own and slid off the bed and over to the window. He looked out at Henry who was standing in the bush that sat underneath his window. Patrick often wondered that if his dad stopped trimming the bush if it would grow to completely cover his window. 

Henry’s arms were crossed in front of his chest. Henry hadn’t changed from earlier, he was still wearing the same dirty tank top. Through the window Patrick could see the goosebumps on Henry’s arms. Sure, it was technically summer, but it was nearly one in the morning, and June nights could still get cold. 

Henry didn’t look amused as Patrick stood there staring instead of letting him in.

“What are you staring at?” He asked, his forehead wrinkled in irritation.

“You said you were sleeping in the bush, I’m waiting for you to make a nest little bird.” Patrick teased with a sly smirk that only made Henry’s frown deepen.

“Oh, fuck off Patrick.” Henry all but growled.

“Fine then.” Patrick let out an obnoxious fake yawn. “Back to bed I guess.”

“Patrick if you don’t open this window I’m going to break it.” Henry threatened, and Patrick knew he wasn’t joking. Henry had such a beautiful appetite for destruction. It’s one of the main reason Patrick enjoyed spending time with him. If Henry could have the world, he’d destroy it. 

Patrick flipped the lock on his window and slid it open.

“Fucking finally,” Henry said, pulling himself through the window and into Patrick’s room as gracefully as he could. “You know, you’re the only one who doesn’t leave their window unlocked for me.”

“Sorry your highness. In the future I’ll be better prepared to anticipate your every need.” Patrick said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Yeah you better be.” Henry said with a smirk as he began undoing the laces on his boots.

“What are you doing here anyway?” Patrick asked. It was uncommon for Henry to sneak out of his house. It wasn’t exactly a secret that his home life was shit, but Patrick couldn’t remember the last time Henry had decided that he would spend the night with him.

“Dad decided to have a few drinks after work.” Henry shrugged it off like it wasn’t a big deal. To him it probably wasn’t. His dad deciding to have a few (and by few Patrick knew he meant a few too many) drinks happened more often than not

. “You okay?” Patrick asked, trying to keep his tone neutral. If you sounded too sincere, Henry would go one of two ways. The first and most common was Henry would begin to push, for some reason the idea of someone actually caring about him hit his tongue in a way more bitter than eating a spoonful of cocoa powder. He’d get frustrated and act like anyone but him was the one with the problem. The second, and this one only happened on very rare occasions when things were really bad, Henry would breakdown. He would cry until his breathing became erratic and his body was nothing more than a shivering mess that would flinch at every touch no matter how gentle. Patrick didn’t know how to deal with Henry when he got that way.

Patrick placed a finger under Henry’s chin and made the other look at him. There was a small cut on Henry’s cheek, far too close to his eye. It could’ve been far worse. The blood had already dried. 

Henry pulled his face away from Patrick’s hand and instead focused on tugging off his boots. “Yeah I just made the mistake of leaving my room at the same time my Dad’s glass was empty.” Henry moved past Patrick and sat on his bed. “Sides, you’re way worse off than I am. What’d your mom say when she saw you?”

Patrick scoffed. “Told her I cut myself shaving.”

She had looked worried when he finally returned home, opting to skip dinner and instead going straight to his room and locking the door. He could tell it hadn’t been genuine. She had looked worried because that’s what she was supposed to do. She was his mother and that meant she was obligated to love him. She didn’t but at least she put some effort into pretending she did. It was more than his father did. He had decided it was best to just ignore Patrick completely.

They had been like that ever since Patrick’s brother had died. Patrick had been five when it had happened and Avery had been less than one. SIDS the doctor had called it. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. It hadn’t made any sense because things don’t just die for no reason. Patrick had known what death was because his goldfish had died earlier that year because he forgot to feed him. He was so sure that no one just suddenly dies. Except apparently sometimes a perfectly healthy baby will stop breathing for no reason at all. Something like that can fuck you up.

Patrick wasn’t dumb. He knew about the rumors going around. People saying that the whole thing had been Patrick’s fault. After all he hadn’t cried at the funeral, there had to be something wrong with him. He hadn’t bothered to correct anyone yet. He shouldn’t have to defend himself against bullshit claims. If people wanted to think he was capable of murder at the age of five then let them think that. 

Patrick flopped down on the bed next to Henry. “So, did you come over just to check on me? I told you earlier, I’m good.”

Henry glanced over towards Patrick’s door, which was currently blocked by his desk. “Yeah, I’m sure you are.” He said sarcastically.

“You haven’t snuck over to my house in months.” Patrick said, “You always complain about how I steal the covers.”

Henry shrugged. “You do. Maybe I just wanted to hang with you.”

“Oh really?” Patrick wore a predatory smirk. He placed a hand on Henry’s sternum and trailed it down his stomach. Henry sat there frozen, not leaning into the touch but also not pulling away. He was still until Patrick’s hand reached the waistband of his jeans. Henry’s hand shot out and grabbed Patrick’s wrist.

“What are you doing?” Henry questioned, squeezing Patrick’s wrist so hard it hurt.

“You wanted to hang out, so let’s hang out.” Patrick said placing his free hand on Henry’s thigh.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Henry snapped.

“Oh, my bad.” Patrick said pulling away, holding his hands up in a mock surrender. “I forgot. If you wanted sex, you would’ve gone to Victor’s house.”

Patrick could see Henry tense and he laughed cruelly. “What you thought I hadn’t noticed?” Patrick asked raising an eyebrow. “You’re not great at subtlety Henry. I can tell when someone is undressing with their eyes. I mean, no judgement. Vic’s hot as fuck.”

“Stop.” Henry threatened.

“What, don’t like anyone else talking about your lover?” Patrick asked, spitting out the word lover like it was something dirty.

“No, I mean stop with this bullshit. You’re purposely being an asshole because you don’t want to tell me what’s wrong.” Henry accused.

“Jokes on you. I’m actually just an asshole.” Patrick said flippantly. 

“Instead of being a dick, you should just talk about things.” Henry said. “It sucks, but it’s just the two of us. It might actually do you some good.”

Patrick felt angry. Henry was messing everything up. They didn’t do this. They didn’t talk about things, at least not with each other.

“I’m so fucking sick of talking about things. That’s all people have wanted me to do today. You want me to talk about it? Fine. I was chased by the decaying bodies of kids I used to go to school with. I fell in sewer water and landed on my face, that part was particularly fun. Then I had to accept the fact that I was about to die. I should’ve died down there Henry! Do you know what it’s like to stand face to face with something and know it wants you dead?” Patrick was breathing heavily after letting all of that pour out of him. 

“I do actually.” Henry said.

Patrick turned away from Henry on the bed. “Yeah I guess you would.” Things were quiet for a moment.

“So, you found the missing kids’ bodies?” Henry asked carefully.

“Some of them.” Patrick mumbled in response.

“And they chased you?” Henry asked, confusion clear in his tone.

“Like Night of the fucking Living Dead.”

“And they tried to kill you?”

Patrick sighed. “No, not them. There was a guy in a clown suit. He wanted to kill me. He didn’t have a knife or a gun or anything like that but I knew. The same way a deer knows it’s in trouble when it sees a wolf.” Patrick shuttered, remember the feeling of being prey for the first time in his life.

“Shit.” Henry breathed out. “Should we...should we tell someone? If you found the sicko that’s been murdering all those kids then-”

“No.” Patrick cut him off. “I don’t...I mean I’m not entirely sure what I saw was human. I know it sounds batshit, but I have a feeling that going to the police or anyone else with this would be a bad idea.”

Henry sighed. He couldn’t say that he believed Patrick 100% but he had never before heard his friend be so serious. There has to be at least some truth to what Patrick was saying.

“Can we talk about something else?” Patrick asked.

“Like what?” Henry laid down on his back, staring up at the posters Patrick had tacked to the ceiling.

“I don’t know.” Patrick rolled to his other side so he could look at Henry. “Victor?”

“Again, with this?” Henry sounded exasperated. 

“What? I’m actually curious. Are you guys like fuck buddies or are there feelings and shit?” Patrick asked him.

Henry chuckled. “God that’s such a messed-up way of putting it.” Henry sat in silence for a bit, pondering whether or not he should continue. “Yeah, there’s feelings and shit.” He said quietly.

Henry held his breath as he waited for his friend to respond. Having sex was one thing. Henry knew that the way Patrick saw it, a hole was a hole. It didn’t matter if it belong to a man or a woman. What he and Vic had was definitely not that. Truthfully, they hadn’t even had sex yet. They hadn’t done anything more than enjoyed each other’s company and steal a few kisses when they could slip away from the group to smoke.

“Huh...sounds gay.” Was Patrick’s response. Patrick laughed a bit at his own joke.

Henry shoved him half-heartedly. “Shut up. If rumors are to be believed you’ve slept with way more dudes that I ever will.” Henry teased back.

“Yeah, but I don’t have feelings for them.”

“Have you ever had feelings for anyone you’ve been with?” Henry asked, although it felt like he already knew the answer to that.

“Hmmm.” Patrick pretended to think. “Nope.” 

Henry rolled over to his side facing Patrick, leaning on his elbow and propping up his head on his hand. “So, you’ve never had a crush?”

Patrick laughed. “Jeez what are you a chick? As a matter of fact, yeah. I’ve had one. A long long time ago.”

“Really?” Henry asked, sounding a bit surprised. “Who?”

“You.” Patrick said.

“Oh, fuck off Pat.”

“No, I’m serious. Way back in Kindergarten. I saw you and thought ‘Man I hope I get to punch this kid for the rest of my life’. If that’s not a crush I don’t know what is.”

Henry shoved Patrick as he laughed.

“So, did you have a crush on Vic then. You know, before you fucked him?” Patrick asked.

“I’ve never-” Henry cut himself off. “Why do you suddenly want to know about me and Vic and feelings and what not. Now you sound like the chick.”

“I like to watch you squirm.” Patrick teased. “It’s fun watching the big scary Henry Bowers admit he has a heart. A heart full of big gay feelings.” Patrick dissolved into laughter.

Henry sat up and punched Patrick hard on his arm. “Shut up. I don’t know why I bothered to give a fuck. I should’ve just gone to Vic’s. He doesn’t say such dumb shit.”

“Yeah, that’s because his mother taught him not to talk with his mouth full.” Patrick mimed the motion of sucking a dick and Henry lunged for him. 

Patrick was stronger than he looked, not to mention he fought Henry enough to know how to beat him. The other was so predictable, especially when he was pissed, which was pretty much all the time. It didn’t take long for Patrick to have Henry pinned and struggling underneath him.

“Let me up Pat!” Henry growled once he realized that he was not going to break the hold on his own.

“Fine. Admit you’re gay and are dating Vic and you’re free to go.” Patrick smirked.

“You already know-”

“It doesn’t matter what I know. I want to hear you say it out loud. Have you ever done that before?” Patrick asked.

Henry prayed that he wasn’t blushing as bad as it felt like he was. He hadn’t actually said it out loud before. Of course, Patrick would catch onto that and use it against Henry in his usual sick idea of a power play. Saying it out loud felt dangerous. Like as soon as he did his dad would come running towards him, gun in hand, probably screaming about how he wouldn’t have a queer for a son.

“Come on, Henry.” Patrick said as if reading his mind. “When else are you going to get a chance to say it to someone and know they aren’t going to kick your ass?”

Henry scoffed. “Oh, yeah right.”

“I’d kick your ass for plenty of things. This isn’t one of them. Just say it.” Patrick tightened his grip on Henry’s wrists as if to remind him that he’s not going anywhere until he does.

Henry took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. “I’m dating Vic and...and I think I’m gay.” Henry had read somewhere once that admitting something you’ve kept inside for so long felt like a weight off your chest. Now it may have something to do with the fact that Patrick was currently practically sitting on his chest, but Henry didn’t feel any weight leave. If anything it was worse. Now somebody knew. Now there was no denying it.

Patrick let go of Henry and rolled off, laying with his head on the pillow next to Henry. He was tired now. 

“I’m going to go to bed. If you’re gonna stay up having a sexuality crisis, do it quietly.” Patrick said, slipping under the covers.

“Oh, get fucked Patrick.” Henry turned away and reached under the bed, pulling out the extra throw blanket that he knew Patrick kept stored there. If Patrick was going to steal the blankets then Henry was going to be prepared.

“You offering Bowers?” Patrick asked and Henry hit him hard in the chest. It knocked the wind out of him, but Patrick still found the air to laugh.

Both fell asleep quickly, both unsure of what the following days would have in store.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've decided on updates every Monday and Thursday, I'm moving alone quite well when it comes to writing this story and I'm excited to share it with you.
> 
> Please feel free to come and talk to me on tumblr at http://everythingisnightvale.tumblr.com


	3. Victor Criss Goes for a Swim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor's first encounter with Pennywise goes about as well as can be expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional Chapter Warning: Brief description of drowning

There was no good reason for Victor to be awake this late. If he had his way he’d be in bed by ten every night. Instead, he had the unfortunate pleasure of being in a group of friends who took the ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead’ philosophy to a whole new level.

For once, Vic had actually gotten home at a decent time. After the excitement of the last day of school and whatever had happened to Patrick, the group had agreed to go their separate ways much earlier than they usually would. Vic had been able to get in bed by eleven. That’s where he was almost two hours later, still wide awake. He still couldn’t shake the image of Patrick when they found him. His clothes were dripping with sewer water. His pupils were wide with fear. Vic had never seen anything like it before. He hoped he never would again.

Vic turned on his side and pulled the blankets tighter around him. It was amazing how much smaller his twin bed felt without Henry here to share it. It was a tight fit for the two of them, but they made it work. Henry preferred to sleep close to Vic, with his arms wrapped around him like he would slip away the moment he let go. It was never a guarantee that Henry would sneak over to his house, but these days it happened more often than not. He would come over even if he wasn’t having problems with his dad. Victor had long since stopped trying to ignore how warm it made him feel knowing that Henry wanted to see him.

It was usually around midnight that Henry was able to sneak away from his father and come sliding through Vic’s window. Since it was now an hour past midnight, Victor knew he’d be sleeping alone. He tried not to worry too much, but it was hard. It was, after all, the end of the school year and that meant report cards. Henry had passed, mostly due to help from Victor and copious amounts of cheating, but he would be going on to the next grade with them. That being said, he knew Henry’s grades would not be good enough to satisfy his father. Even if by some miracle they were, he wouldn’t be able to ignore just how many tardies and absences Henry had acquired, most of them spent with Vic. Most of the time, they would just sit on the steps outside of the back entrance and smoke. Sometimes, if Henry could manage to get the keys from Belch, they would hide away in there, away from prying eyes. It was there that Henry would lean over and steal kisses. Nothing too scandalous, Henry was far more shy than he’d ever let on to. Henry also knew how important it was to keep what they had a secret. They couldn’t risk getting swept up in each other’s company in the school parking lot. It was too risky. More than once Vic found himself wondering how Belch would react if he knew just how many times his friends had kissed in his car. Victor couldn’t imagine he’d be too thrilled with it.

Vic groaned in frustration. Try as he may, he couldn’t stop his mind from wandering. If sleep was to continue to avoid him, then he might as well take a bath. Maybe the warm water would calm him down enough to sleep.

He threw his covers off and walked down the hall to the bathroom. He didn’t bother being quiet as he grabbed a towel from the hall closet, slamming it shut. His parents weren’t home. His dad was in Chicago, some sort of important sales meeting. He wasn’t quite sure where his mom was. She was rarely home while his dad was away. He didn’t know where she was or who she was with, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. If he didn’t question what she did then she in turn wouldn’t worry herself with how Vic chose to spend his time.

He shut the door behind him as he entered the bathroom. Even though he knew he was home alone, there was just something about bathing with the door open that left him feeling too vulnerable. He let the bath fill up as he removed his clothing, setting that and his towel on the lid of the toilet. 

As Victor soaked in the warm water he finally felt himself relaxing. He didn’t need to wash himself. He’d shower in the morning before going to meet up with his friends. Right now was all about relaxing. He inhaled the scent of lavender from the candle he lit and tried to ignore the overwhelming silence of being alone in an empty house. Every little sound seemed to be magnified. The steady drip of water droplets from the faucet into the bath water below sounded like cannonballs. He could hear the groaning of the pipes behind the walls. He was sure that if he concentrated he would even be able to hear the sound of his heart beating in his chest. 

It was calming in a strange way and Vic let his eyes close as he finally began to feel tired. Falling asleep right here didn’t seem like a terrible idea suddenly. He was warm and comfortable. 

He was, until the shower came on suddenly, spraying him in the face with a blast of icy water. Victor shot up, fully awake once again, and moved to turn off the water. He tried to twist the handle but it didn’t budge. His brow furrowed. He twisted it in the other direction and water began pouring out of the bathtub spout as well. Victor let go of the handle but it continued twisting and twisting all on its own until it became completely unscrewed, landing in the bathtub with a plop.

He jumped out of the bathtub as the water began to overflow and pulled the plug. He waited for the water to drain, but it didn’t. Instead it was now spilling over the top of the tub in earnest, completely covering the floor of the small bathroom. Vic looked around in shock as the faucet on the sink was now pouring water. That too quickly filled the sink and spilled over.

The water was now almost up to his knees. The room seemed to be filling impossibly fast. He grabbed the door handle and froze when it didn’t budge.

Victor hadn’t locked the door. He couldn’t even if he wanted to. The lock on this door had been broken for years and no one had bothered to fix it, but even as he tried again, the door refused to open. He jumped as the sudden sound of the toilet seat shooting up. Water sprayed from the toilet bowl into the air, raining down around him and helping to fill the room even faster.

This didn’t make any sense. This room wasn’t exactly air tight, the water should be going down drains, or through the space between the door and the floor, but it wasn’t. It was past his knees now and rising fast. What was he going to do if he couldn’t get the door opened?

Victor was suddenly so afraid it felt like the wind was knocked out of him. He thought back to when he was younger, six or maybe seven years old. It was summer, it was hot, his baby sitter had decided to take him to the local pool. He remembered barely being able to contain his excitement. His mother never took him to the pool. They had a small kiddie pool in their backyard and she felt like that should more than satisfy Victor’s need to splash around. She couldn’t possibly understand though. The pool on main street had a slide, and if you could swim well enough then you could even jump off the diving boards. Victor couldn’t swim well enough yet. He couldn’t swim at all, but he was determined to learn that summer. 

His babysitter helped him apply sunscreen and sat down in the shade to read her book as Vic played. At first, he stayed in the shallow end, only where he could touch, but the longer he played, the more confident he got. He got the hang of swimming well enough to make it to the deep side. The number on the side of the pool said six feet. That was a full two feet taller than Vic was. He was proud that he had learned how to swim all by himself, but it didn’t take him long before he got tired. He didn’t sink, not completely, but it was becoming harder and harder to keep his head above the water. He didn’t start to feel panicked until he swallowed a mouthful of water. The chlorine tasted bad and made his stomach hurt. He kept kicking, focusing so much energy on keeping himself up that he didn’t have any to push himself towards shallow water. He felt what he could only describe to be pure panic when he finally inhaled water for the first time. He tried to cough and cry out, but it only succeeded in filling his mouth with more water. It burned worse than anything he had ever felt before. Then he blacked out.

He was lucky. A mother sunbathing by the side of the pool while her son floating in his frog inner tube had noticed his struggle. She had jumped in without hesitation and pulled him out of the water. Someone had given him CPR while another person phoned for an ambulance. He survived. His babysitter was fired, and it hurt to take deep breaths for nearly a week afterwards. He hadn’t stepped foot in water deeper than his waist since then, and only if he could see the bottom (Lakes were filled with uncertainty. The water could go from four feet to eight in a matter of steps). He had taken every precaution to avoid the possibility of drowning again.

Now he was going to drown in his bathroom.

The freezing water was now past his chest. He shivered and forced himself to move and find something that could help him pry the door open. Of course, being in a bathroom meant you were limited on the tools you had available.

Victor felt his feet lift off the floor. He didn’t have much time now and he knew it. He turned towards the shower thinking that he might be able to pry the towel holder off the wall and use it like a crowbar to get the door open. He then froze, unable to move forward. There, behind the shower curtain that floated in the still rising water, was a silhouette of a person. A gloved hand appeared out from behind the curtain and tugged it open so violently the curtain ripped. It was a clown. A clown with yellow eyes stared at him. Smiling.

Victor took a deep breath and diving under the water. The entire room was nearly filled at this point. He grabbed onto the door handle and used it to keep himself steady as his kicked the door.

“Victor.” A voice traveled through the water in a way voices should not be able to. “Come on Victor. You’re all washed up.” Laughter filled his ears and Vic doubled his effort to kick at the door. He could see a small crack running length ways down it.

“It’s time to float Vic.” Victor shuttered at the way the thing behind him said his name. His lungs were burning now, spasming as if screaming for air. It hurt, but the burn of breathing in water was worse. 

Finally, his foot went through the door, and so did water. The pressure caused the door to break completely and Victor found himself pressed against the wall as water rushed out of the room. When he was able to stand once more he turned around, fists raised, ready to fight, but the clown was gone. 

Victor wasn’t about to go looking for it. He ran back to his room and slammed the door shut, locking it behind him. He was breathing heavily, but he refused to relax until the door was locked behind him. Once it was he fell into bed.

There was no way that had just happened. There was no possible explanation for any of it. It had to be a bad dream. He must have fallen asleep in the bathtub and panicked when he fell in. He was still mostly asleep. That was the only thing he could think of. All he had to do was just relax.

Victor wrapped himself up in his blanket, not bothering to dress himself and laid there for the rest of the night, never quite letting himself fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go guys! Chapter 3 as promised. Fun useless fact about this chapter. It's Belch's mom who saves Vic. Vic doesn't realize this, and Belch doesn't remember this particular trip to the pool, so he doesn't know either. I really hope you're enjoying things so far. Please feel free to drop by my tumblr and say hi. I'm always down to talk about It. My tumblr is http://everythingisnightvale.tumblr.com
> 
> Chapter 4 will be up on Thursday! It'll be staring Belch, so I hope you're ready for more of him.


	4. Belch Gets Swarmed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothings says "Good Morning" like a clown in your basement. Belch learns that the hard way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No additional chapter warnings this time.

It’s not a surprising fact that breathing becomes increasingly more difficult when there is a cat on your face. Belch had learned this shortly after his cat Plumpy had come into his life. The small kitten had quickly realized that the easiest way to wake Belch up for his morning meal was by cutting off his air ways. Blech hadn’t slept in in five years.

“I hate you.” He grumbled sleepily, his voice muffled by the mound of cat on top of him. He picked up the cat and sat him on the floor. The alarm clock besides his bed said 7:12, far too early for Belch to be awake now that it was summer.

“I’m going to lock you outside and make you hunt for your food.” Belch told his cat as he stepped out of bed. The cat meowed in response and rubbed himself against Belch’s legs. Belch wasn’t angry. Not really...okay maybe a little bit. It was hard to stay angry when a black and grey blob of a cat was staring up at you like you were some kind of folk hero because you knew how to put food in a bowl.

He all but stumbled out of his room. Walking became much harder when you’re both tired and have a cat with no concept of personal space. He filled the bowl with food and plopped down in a chair at the kitchen table. He wished he could go back to sleep but he knew he was too awake now to try. Belch let out a small noise of thanks as his dad set a cup of coffee down in front of him.

“First day of summer vacation huh? Any big plans?” His dad asked in a voice far too cheery for this early.

His dad was the definition of a morning person. Belch knew his dad had been up since at least five. He had probably already gone on a jog. That wasn’t the only way Belch differed from his father. At sixteen Belch was almost a half foot taller than his dad, who sat at a rather unimpressive 5’6”. He was about as skinny as they came and wore bifocals that always seemed to be slipping down his nose. In short, his father was a nerd, but unlike so many fathers Belch had come into contact with in this town, his was a good guy.

“Not really.” Belch replied honestly. “I’m going to pick up the guys a little later. You know, when they’d actually be awake.”

“How are your friends? Good I hope.” His dad asked sipping his coffee.

Belch knew that his dad was really asking about Henry. He worried about him. His mom did too. Well, they worried about all his friends, but Henry in particular for obvious reason. It was the worst kept secret in Derry that Butch Bowers was a terrible father. He had heard his parents argue on a few occasions about whether or not they should report him for child abuse. They didn’t. They couldn’t. After all Butch was an officer of the law. If they reported it and word got back to him, poor Henry would pay the price. They did keep an eye on him though, and made sure Henry knew he was welcome over any time.

“They’re good dad.” Belch said. He hoped he was correct. It wasn’t just his parents who worried about Henry. Vic would’ve called if Henry had showed up at his place in bad shape. No phone call meant Henry was probably alright, but Belch wouldn’t know for sure until later.

Then there was Patrick. He debated for a second about whether or not he should tell his dad what happened to Patrick yesterday down in the barrens, but he decided not to. Belch wasn’t quite sure himself what had happened and Patrick seemed content to ignore it completely. 

“That’s good.” His dad smiled.

They sat in a comfortable silence as his dad finished his coffee and went off to work. Belch continued to sit there by himself for a few minutes longer. He absentmindedly read through the newspaper his dad had left behind until his coffee was gone. Unlike Plumpy, Belch never found himself hungry in the morning. He was about to head back to his room when he heard an eerie creak.

“Mom?” He called out. There was no response. He hadn’t really been expecting one. He knew his mom had to be at the garage early today. Moments later there was another creak, this one longer and higher pitched.

Belch waited for any other sounds. “Plumpy?” He rose from his chair and walked in the direction of the sound. The first thing he noticed was that the door to the basement was open, which was never the case. Most of the time the door was locked.

When they first moved into that house his mom decided that they were going to use the third bedroom as a guest room, not that they really ever had any guest over. That didn’t matter, his mom had made up her mind and that’s how things were going to be. His dad had decided then that he would turn their basement into his study. He kept a lot of his research, both for work and personal, stored down there. He kept the door closed so Plump wouldn’t go down there and mess with things. If the door was open then there was a very large chance that that’s exactly what was happening.

Belch sighed. That meant he would have to go down there and get him. He hated going down there. There was a large drain in the middle of the floor. It was to stop the basement from flooding, his mom had told him.

“Don’t stand too close to that drain Reggie.” His father had said to him shortly after they had moved in. “You could fall in.” Of course, it had just been a joke, but Belch had barely turned five and he still believed his dad would never tell a lie, so he refused to step anywhere near the basement. He knew now that there was no possible way he could fall down the drain. Even if he could’ve back then, he most certainly wouldn’t fit now. However, the feeling of discomfort that he gained from that moment stuck around, even as he aged.

The basement only grew creepier as his dad transformed the room into a space for his research. Belch held his breath as he walked down the stairs, flicking on the lightswitch at the bottom and illuminating the entire room.

Even though he was braced for what he was about to see, he wasn’t fully prepared. The desk was covered in paper, some had fallen to the ground. They were covered in different drawings and notes. There was a thick book laying out as well. Sticky notes were marking various pages.

He shuddered as his eyes panned over the walls. There, filling various cork boards and glass boxes were insects, mostly different types of butterflies and moths. They sat there, unmoving, pinned to the boards. It made him sick just looking at them.

He’d never be able to understand why his dad wanted to be an entomologist. Bugs were creepy. There was nothing fascinating about them. He’d never admit it, but he might be the tiniest bit afraid of bugs. There was just something about them that made him feel uncomfortable. His mother had told him when he was younger to remember that he was bigger, and bugs were far more afraid of him then he was of them. Somehow, he doubted that.

“Plumpy?” He called out, nothing gave any sign that the cat was down here. He stepped further into the room in case his cat had gotten stuck somewhere he couldn’t get out of. As he crossed the room he felt something tickle the back of his neck. On instinct he slapped at it. The sound of the slap seemed magnified in the empty basement.

There was nothing there of course, and Belch felt silly for reacting so strongly. He peered under the desk and around the bookshelf, walking a careful wide arc around the drain in the middle of the floor. He felt a tickle again, this one on his arm. He moved to brush something off and froze. There was something there. A butterfly.

Blech could see now the pins laying on the desk and the empty space on the once full board.

He brushed the butterfly off his arm, trying not to think too hard about the concept of zombie bugs. The butterfly hovered in the air for a moment before once again resting on Belch’s arm.

Then there was another. He could feel it on the top of his head, walking across his short hair. The more Belch tried to brush off, the more butterflies came, finding different resting spots around his body. He walked backwards, almost in a panic as he tried to remove the insects from his body.

“Reggie.” A voice that sounded like his dad’s filled the room. He knew it wasn’t his dad though. It didn’t sound quite right.

“Careful Reggie, you’ll fall in.” Belch froze. He realized now that the voice was coming from below him. He looked down at his feet. He was now standing over top of the drain. It wobbled beneath him. 

He jumped backwards, landing painfully on his ass. He winced, knowing that the fall definitely bruised his tailbone. The drain cover continued to shake before popping off completely, flying directly up into the air.

The metal drain cover crashed to the concrete floor barely a foot away from where Belch was sitting. A rustling sound grew like thunder until suddenly hundreds of butterflies poured from the drain into the room, swarming around Belch.

He failed his arms, trying to swat away as many butterflies as he could. Through the swarm he was able to make out a figure standing in the corner of the basement. He couldn’t see very well but he could tell that it wasn’t anyone he knew. He could make out bright hair and skin so white, it had to be painted. It reminded him of a clown. He was holding something, a balloon maybe? Belch wasn’t sure, and he didn’t want to stick around and find out.

He needed to get out of here. Away from the source that was still sending butterflies in tidal waves. He scrambled to his feet and ran in the direction he hoped was the stairs. He tripped once he reached them and began to climb up, using his hands as well as his feet. He slammed the door once he was safely on the other side. The butterflies were gone. The swarm didn’t follow him into the hall. The ones that had taken up residence on his body were gone too. It was almost like they had vanished.

There he sat, his back pressed against the door, breathing heavily. He turned his head when Plumpy meowed off to his left.

“Oh...there you are.” He couldn’t explain what just happened. Plumpy walked up to Belch and planted himself on his lap.

He could see the living room clock from where he was sitting. It was almost 8:30. He was doubtful any of his friends were awake yet, but he was not about to spend another minute in this house alone.

He took Plumpy off his lap, to the cat’s dismay, and headed off to get dressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's Chapter 4! Sorry, it's a little shorter than I normally do, the next one will be longer. It was originally going to be one big chapter, but I ended up deciding to break it up.  
> Fun Fact! My cats name is Ella, but everyone calls her Plumpy or Plump, so that's where the name came from.  
> If you also love these boys and want to chat about them, hit my up on tumblr at http://everythingisnightvale.tumblr.com  
> Next chapter will be up on Monday!


	5. Early Morning Real Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things only get weirder when the gang shows up at Vic's place and discovers the aftermath of Vic's run in with Pennywise. Henry and Vic have a moment, and the gang realizes that someone odd is going on in Derry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Additional Chapter Warnings

Belch was pleasantly surprised when he arrived at Patrick’s house and found that Patrick was not only awake, but Henry was with him. It certainly made his morning easier.

“You both look like shit.” He commented, leaning against the porch railing.

They both flipped him off with such synchronization that someone would’ve thought it was rehearsed. He wasn’t wrong though. They both had dark bags underneath their eyes. At some point during the night the cut on Patrick’s forehead had opened leaving part of Patrick’s face covered in now dried blood. Belch could only imagine what his pillow looked like. Henry had a new cut on his face. If he had gone to Vic’s then the blond surely would’ve put a bandaid on it. Belch didn’t think that thought even crossed Patrick’s mind.

That reminded him. “Why the hell are you at Patrick’s?” Belch asked the question that had been on his mind since they answered the door.

Henry narrowed his eyes in a way that said it was none of his business.

Patrick snickered. “He wanted to make sure I didn’t go batshit crazy.”

“Did you?” Belch asked, humoring him.

“Completely.” Patrick replied with a grin. They both laughed, but Henry didn’t look amused. “Henry’s so sweet. He climbed through my window and everything.”

“Wait, hold on. Did you actually stay the night? I thought you hated staying here cause Patrick always steals the covers.” Belch asked, a bit surprised.

“He does.” Henry growled. Obviously, this was a sensitive subject. “I had my own fucking blanket and he still managed to steal that too.” In truth, Patrick did far more than just steal some blankets. The other boy had spent the entire night tossing and turning. Henry could hardly fall asleep with all his thrashing about. In the end, the blankets had wound up on the floor and no one got to use them.

They hadn’t talked in the morning about the things they had spoken of the night before. Some conversations weren’t meant for daylight hours.

“What happened to you?” Henry asked, as he looked over Belch.

Belch turned his eyes downward to what Henry was looking at. He had scratched up his shins earlier when he scrambled up the stairs. He hadn’t noticed it at the time. His mind had been a bit preoccupied. It wasn’t bad, there wasn’t even any blood, but he knew by tomorrow he’d have large bruises.

“Tripped up the basement stairs.” Belch said, not looking either of his friends in the eyes. He was a terrible liar, but technically what he said wasn’t a lie.

Henry narrowed his eyes, obviously not quite believing his friend’s story. Patrick just laughed.  
“You tripped up the stairs. Smooth move.” He said through his laughter.

Belch shoved him back in the house. “Go wash your face off so we can leave. Vic’s probably wondering where we are.”

“Vic’s probably eating breakfast, not giving a shit about where we are.” Henry responded.

“Oh, I’m sure you would know exactly what Vic’s thinking.” Patrick said with a grin, and Henry glared at him and he walked away laughing. Belch was confused but knew it was in his best interest not to say anything.

“I’m just saying we’re awake before noon on a Saturday. He’s gonna think we’re up to something.” Henry explained.

“Aren’t we always?” Belch asked with a smile. 

It only took a few moments for Patrick to wash his face off and come bounding out the door. Belch tossed Henry the keys as they walked towards the car. Henry didn’t have his license yet, but he turned sixteen shortly before the school year ended and Belch knew he wanted to take his test this summer. He wanted all the practice he could get.

The drive to Vic’s place wasn’t too long. Soon they were pulling up in front and Henry laid on the horn, signaling to their friend that they had arrived. They waited for five minutes, and then ten, and still no sign of Vic.

“We are early.” Belch said, but the concern didn’t quite leave Henry’s face. He shut the car off and the group got out, heading towards the front door. Patrick rang the doorbell a few more times than necessary, but still no sign that Vic heard him.

“He’s probably in the shower.” Belch said with a shrug. He didn’t want to admit that he was worried too, especially when Henry had such a dark expression. 

“Well I’m not going to wait out here while Vic tosses one off in the shower.” Patrick said walking over into the rocks that lined the edge of Victor’s house. He picked one up, seemingly at random, and for a second Belch was worried Patrick was going to use it to break a window. Instead he turned it over and pulled off a small house key that was taped to the bottom. He went back to the door and unlocked it with an audible click.

Patrick pushed open the front door and taped the key back to the rock, tossing it carelessly back with the others. He looked behind him. Henry and Belch just stood there staring at him with shocked expressions.

“How did you know that was there?” Henry asked dumbfounded. He didn’t even know that was there. It seemed like something Vic should’ve told him.

Patrick scoffed. “Please, I know how to break into all of your houses.” He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and with that, he entered the house.

Belch and Henry looked at each other, both trying to push away the idea that Patrick could enter their houses whenever he pleased. Neither knew how long they stood there before they heard Patrick say. “Holy shit guys come look at this.”

Anxiety instantly twisted in Henry’s stomach and he pushed past Belch into the house. He ran up the stairs to where Patrick stood, nearly slipping. The stairs were wet he noticed, and so was the floor upstairs. Patrick stood outside of the same bathroom he was in just the day before. Now the door to that bathroom was in pieces. Henry and Patrick stood there, taking in the scene before them. Inside the bathroom, the shower curtain had been torn and was almost completely off the rod. There was a t-shirt and a pair of Vic’s boxers laying on the floor, completely soaked, as well as a towel. There were other things out of place in the bathroom. Shampoo bottles were sitting in a corner, the small glass dish where the hand soap sat was now in pieces on the floor. Henry didn’t know what to make of it, but he had seen enough.

He all but ran down the hall to Vic’s room.

“Vic.” He called out, turning the door handle, but it was locked. “Shit.” He cursed under his breath.

“Is he there?” Henry jumped a bit when Belch spoke.

“I don’t know.” Henry admitted, staring at the door. He needed to know Vic was safe. He didn’t think he could handle seeing his face on one of the many missing posters plastered over town.

Inside the bedroom, Vic began to stir. He wasn’t used to so much noise. He lived in a quiet neighborhood and his parents were never home. As he woke, memories of last night began flooding back to him. He desperately wanted to believe that everything that happened had just been a dream. There was no way something like that was real.

The fear he felt though was very real. The muffled noises coming through his door could very easily be that clown coming back to finish what he started last night. Vic shivered at the thought.

“Jesus, just move Henry, I’ll pick the lock.” He could make out words now that he was more awake. 

“No Patrick, I’m not letting you break into his room.” Was that Henry?

“Why not? I’m sure you do it all the time.” 

“Fuck off Patrick.” Yes, that was definitely Henry.

Victor looked at the clock. It was only 9am. The only thing he wanted to do was go back to sleep. Why did his friends pick today to decide to wake up early?

“All of you need to fuck off and let me go back to sleep.” Vic called out, the irritation clear in his voice. 

“Vic?” Henry sounded relieved. 

“Yeah, who else would it be?” He forced himself to sit up. He couldn’t see himself in the mirror, but he knew his hair was a mess. There was a reason he didn’t go to bed with it wet. Another thing he realized was that he wasn’t wearing clothes.

“Open the door or I’m going to let Patrick pick the lock.” Henry said. If the small sounds Vic could hear coming from the other side of the door were any indication, he was already working on doing just that.

“Give me five minutes. Go be useful and start some coffee.” He told his friends. In public, Vic would never dream of bossing Henry around. The group had a certain dynamic that they had to show to the public. Henry needed to be seen as the leader because being anything other than that would make him seem weak. Vic knew Henry’s reputation was important to him. This wasn’t in public. This was Victor’s house, and he was allowed to be as bossy as he wanted.

That didn’t mean his friends were going to listen. Before Vic had a chance to get out of bed Henry was pushing the door open. The closed it behind him, making it clear to Belch and Patrick that they were not invited.

“Seriously?” Vic asked, he was way too tired to deal with these antics.

“What the hell happened?” Henry said, crossing the room and sitting on the edge of Vic’s bed so he was eye level. Vic’s brow furrowed. He didn’t look angry, instead he looked concerned. “Your bathroom door is in two pieces, there’s water everywhere.”

“Shit, I actually broke the bathroom door.” He said, more to himself than to Henry. So, it definitely wasn’t a dream then.

“What happened?” Henry repeated. That’s when Vic realized that Henry had been worried about him. That was...sweet. Vic usually spent his time fretting over Henry, it was kind of nice to know that Henry worried about him too.

Henry was still waiting for an answer to his question. Vic didn’t know what to tell him. He couldn’t think of any way to explain it that didn’t sound crazy. “I’m not entirely sure.” He admitted. “I think I might be insane.”

Henry stared at him waiting for him to continue.

Vic sighed. “Look I’ll tell you everything that happened, but let me get dressed first, and coffee. This conversation requires coffee.”

“Fine,” Henry said, obviously not pleased that he’d have to wait for his explanation. He made no move to get up and give Vic privacy.

Vic rolled his eyes and shoved a pillow in Henry’s face before he let himself get out from under the covers. “No peeking.” Vic said, a teasing hint to his voice.

“Wait, are you-”

“Naked? Mmhm, completely.” Vic responded.

Henry was glad his face was buried in the pillow so Vic couldn’t see him blush. He could hear Vic going through his drawers. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to peak. He was, after all, a sixteen year old boy. Here he was with his incredible gorgeous, incredibly naked boyfriend. So yeah, he was tempted, but he wouldn’t dare. Vic’s wrath was not something to be taken lightly. 

“So why are you here so early?” Vic asked as he dressed.

“I stayed at Pat’s last night and had the worst night’s sleep of my life.” Henry shrugged.

“Ass, you should’ve called and said you weren’t coming over.”

Henry’s laugh was somewhat muffled by the pillow. “Miss me that much? Didn’t know you were that clingy Vic.” Vic threw some article of clothing at Henry, hitting him in the chest. Henry threw the pillow at him in retaliation. Vic hit the pillow out of the air before it could hit him. He was mostly dressed now, only missing a shirt, which was what now sat in Henry’s lap.

“You wanted to check on him, didn’t you?” Vic said, walking back over to Henry, picking up the shirt. “You know, you’re not very good at pretending you don’t care about us.” He said as he slid it over his head.

“You think I should try harder?” Henry asked, raising an eyebrow.

Vic gave him a small smile. “No.”

Henry stood up and stepped closer to Vic. It felt dangerous, being this close when the others were around. Vic eyed the door cautiously, as if expecting one of them to come barging in.

“Patrick knows, about us.” Henry didn’t look at Vic when he said that. He looked as nervous as Vic felt right now. “He figured it out, and he forced me to confirm it. I don’t think he’s going to tell anyone, but it’s Patrick.” Henry trailed off, but Vic knew what he meant. Patrick was a wildcard, driven on impulse alone. It was hard to predict what he’d do.

“Is he...okay with it?” Vic had thought about telling their friends before, but he didn’t entertain that thought for long. There were too many ways it could go wrong. They couldn’t risk word of their relationship getting out.

“Yeah actually. I don’t think he really understands it, but he’s not gonna try and kick my ass over it.” Henry said with a shrug. “He said you were hot.” Henry added with a smirk.

Vic laughed a bit. “Did you agree?” He asked with a teasing grin.

Henry didn’t respond, he just rested a hand on the back of Vic’s neck and pulled him in gently for a kiss. Vic could feel Henry smile as he kissed him and he fought of an urge to grin as well.

Henry pulled back smiling wider now. He turned towards the door. “You should probably brush your hair before you head downstairs. It looks like a bird’s nest.” He said to Vic as he left the room.

Vic glared daggers at him. His boyfriend sure knew how to instantly kill a mood. “Henry Bowers I am going to murder you.” He growled, but Henry was already out the door, laughing as he made his way downstairs.

Vic did run a comb through his hair before leaving his room. He took a moment and stared down the hallway. There was proof that what had happened last night was more than just a bad dream. There was too much water for it to be anything but what he saw. He took a deep breath and walked down the stairs.

His friends were waiting in the kitchen. Henry was sitting on the counter, while Patrick went through his fridge helping himself to whatever he found inside. As he entered the room Belch handed him a warm cup of coffee.

“Reg, you are my favorite.” He said taking the cup. The warmth seeping through the ceramic into his hands was already waking him up. He took a sip and tried to ignore all of his friends looking at him, awaiting an explanation.

“Something happened last night.” He began.

“Obviously. I can’t believe you had an indoor pool party and didn’t invite us.” Patrick said. Henry shushed him.

“This is going to sound really weird but everything in the bathroom just started gushing water. None of the water would drain, so the bathroom just kind of...filled up.” He didn’t want to think about this.

“Filled up?” Belch asked.

“Yeah, completely. The entire bathroom was full of water. I thought I was going to drown.” Vic stared down into his coffee. No one said anything. Not even Patrick had a comment to make. They all knew of Vic’s fear of drowning. They figured that out early on in their friendship when Patrick had tried to throw Vic in the quarry and had quickly gotten an elbow to his face.

“There was something else.” Vic was hesitant to tell them this last part. It seemed to out of place Vic wasn’t completely sure it had happened at all or if it was just a hallucination due to the lack of oxygen. 

“What?” Henry asked, urging him to continue. 

“There was...this clown, in the bathroom with me. It didn’t seem to need to breath. It even spoke to me.” Henry gently took the cup of coffee out of Vic’s tightening grip before he could break the handle off.

“I saw it too.”

All eyes turned to Belch who was focusing intently on his shoes instead of looking at anyone else. 

“This morning, down in my dad’s office. I was swarmed by bugs and it was just there.” Belch told them. It had just happened this morning, but now it seemed like ages away.

“Me too.” Patrick wrapped his arms around himself and leaned back against the fridge. He didn’t look vulnerable, but it was obvious that he was making an effort to do so. “Down the sewer yesterday. It was there too.”

“Was there anything else?” Vic asked. 

Patrick was hesitant to answer. “Our dead classmates. They chased me for a bit.”

“Do you think this thing is showing us what we’re most afraid of?” Belch asked. It made sense. He was terrified of bugs, Vic was scared of drowning.

“Flaw in your theory there. I’m not afraid of zombies. I don’t know why I saw them.” Patrick said, turning up his nose and shoving his hands in his pockets. That was a lie. He wasn’t necessarily afraid of zombies, but if Belch’s theory was correct, Patrick had an idea of why he saw that in particular. There was something about the idea that he had no control over how or when he died that left him feeling uneasy. Seeing his classmates, knowing that they had lives that they had wanted to live, that it could be snatched away so easily, brought that fear to the front of his mind. It brought him back to being five years old and discovering that sometimes people die for no reason.

“There has to be something weird going on here.” Henry said.

“Maybe we’re just on some really good drugs that we’re not sharing with you.” Patrick joked. Henry did not look amused.

“Good drugs? More like a bad trip.” Belch grumbled. 

“Could it be?” Vic asked. “Could someone be drugging kids so they’re easier to kill?” That would make more sense than the alternative.

“Maybe, but I don’t think so.” Henry said, looking over towards the water covered stairs. 

“That makes more sense than it being some kind of monster.” Belch said.

Logically, it did, but Patrick looked in that things eyes. It had been so close to him he could clearly see the drool dripping down the side of its chin. He didn’t know how he knew, but that thing had wanted to eat him. It was a monster.

Henry thought back to something his history teacher had said that stuck in his head. “There’s some truth to every legend. Mothman, the Jersey Devil, Bigfoot, all of it seems like bullshit, but there are too many people saying the same thing for it to be completely fake. Countries that had no way of talking to each other reported shit like vampires using the exact same descriptions. There’s a lot of shit in this world that we don’t understand.”

“If we don’t understand it, what are we going to do about it?” Vic asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe we should research it or something? That’s usually what people do when they don’t get something.” Henry shrugged.

“Boys,” Patrick said, throwing his arms out, one around Henry the other around Vic. “We’re going to the library.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's one of my favorites so far. I love these boys.
> 
> I hope you're prepared for Thursdays Chapter because we will get a surprise appearance from the goodliest boy, also known as Ben Hanscom.
> 
> I am accepting headcanon request on Tumblr. Feel free to hit me up at http://everythingisnightvale.tumblr.com


	6. Two Dudes in a Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If any information about the thing the gang saw exists, it would be in the Derry Public Library. New bonds are formed in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Additional Chapter Warnings

The four sat in the car parked near the Derry public library.

“So... who’s going in there?” Henry asked.

“Wait, we’re not all going?” Belch asked.

“If the four of us step foot in the library together they’re going to throw us out before we even get near a book.” Vic had a point. Their group had developed quite the reputation for destruction. “Besides, I’m pretty sure Patrick is still banned.”

“You put playboys in the kid’s section one time.” Patrick grumbled shaking his head. “Well, we can’t send Henry. He’ll take all day.”

Henry turned towards the back seat and punched Patrick hard in the leg. Contrary to popular belief, Henry was not as lazy as his teachers thought. It’s not that he didn’t want to do his homework, reading was just frustrating. It didn’t come as easy to him as it should at this age. The whole group knew it, but that didn’t mean Patrick had to bring it up.

“Not it.” Vic called.

“Hey!” Belch said turning around to face Vic. “No way. Rock, Paper, Scissors.”

“Really?” Vic said raising an eyebrow. “What are you, five?”

“Would you rather arm wrestle me for it?” Belch asked with a shrug.

Vic’s mouth became a thin line. He could hold his own in a fight, but in a one on one battle of strength with Belch, there was no way he stood a chance.

“Fine.” He held out a fist and Belch did the same. “On the count of three.”

He didn’t know how, but he was sure Vic had cheated. Belch grumbled as he made his way to the library. He hadn’t been here since he was nine and had thoroughly outgrown all the chairs in the children's section. 

The library hadn’t been open for very long when Blech walked through the doors. It made the whole place even more quiet that normal. There was a small line of people waiting to check out books. A librarian wheeled a cart around, putting away returned books. There was even one kid, no older than seven, sitting in the back corner in a small beanbag chair. No parents in sights. This was probably their idea of free daycare. There was one other person sitting at a small table counting out change. Belch’s gut twisted with guilt when he recognized the familiar face.

Sitting there at the library table, face scrunched up in concentration as he counted, was the kid Henry had tried to carve like a pumpkin yesterday. With everything that had happened recently, Belch had almost forgotten. Now proof of what he had been a part of was sitting not even twenty feet away. 

Belch wasn’t sure what was going on, but Henry had gotten more violent lately. He couldn’t recall when exactly it had started, but it had only gotten progressively worse. He had asked Henry about it one night, after he had stayed for dinner. Henry tried to explain about how lately it was like his head would get so full of fog all he could feel was anger. Belch wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but he told Henry he should take up boxing. He had heard somewhere once that people with anger issues needed healthy ways to workout their frustrations. Ways that didn’t involve trying to carve their name into a kid who did nothing but exist.

Belch believed it probably had something to do with Henry’s father. Kids all over town were going missing and the police couldn’t find any helpful information. That had to make Henry’s dad’s days progressively more stressful. Stress that he no doubtably took out on Henry. Not to mention, Henry was getting older. He could take more of a beating now than he used to. Henry was showing up with more wounds to clean than ever these days. He hadn’t seen Henry without some sort of bruise in months.

He knew he was making excuses. There are plenty of people out there who lived in shitty households that didn’t go around carving up a kid like a thanksgiving turkey.

Belch couldn’t not say something to him. The thought of walking by the poor kid and acting like he didn’t do anything wrong was almost too much to bare. He could just picture his mom standing there with her arms crossed. She had that ‘I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed’ look on her face. Honestly, Belch would rather her be mad.

With his mind made up, Belch walked over to the table. “Hey.” He called out to him, not loudly, but certainly not in the preferred library whisper. The kid jumped, sending a few quarters tumbling to the ground.

Belch knelt down and picked them up, setting them on the table with the rest of the change. There were books on the table too, though they hardly looked readable anymore. All three books were dirty and soaking wet.

“Woah, what happened to those?” He asked.

The kid frowned, but didn’t say anything. He tried to quickly gather his things. He didn’t want to give Belch a reason to cause a scene here in the library.

“Oh shit.” Belch said softly, realizing what must have happened. “Was it when you feel down that hill?” It must’ve been. He had been leaving the library yesterday when Henry had seen him. The younger boy didn’t look like someone who would normally be so careless with a borrowed book.

“Yes.” He replied in a small voice. “Ended up in the creek.”

Belch winced slightly. That would explain the wet books. He pulled out his wallet and looked at the other.

“How much?” He asked.

“Excuse me?” The confusion was clearly written on his face.

“Those books are ruined. You’re here to pay for them right?”

He nodded.

“How much? It wasn’t your fault they were ruined you shouldn’t have to pay for them.” It was obvious now. The kid was sitting here counting his pocket change to pay for the books. From the looks of it, there was no way he’d have enough. He shouldn’t be spending all his quarters paying for damages he hadn’t caused. He should be spending them at the arcade, or on movie tickets. Something fun he could do with friends.

“It wasn’t yours either.” The kid said, finally meeting his eyes. “I mean, you tried to stop Henry.”

He did, that was true. “I didn’t try hard enough. You still ended up getting hurt.” Belch had been afraid of Henry for probably the first time in his life. Henry had a knife that he was clearly willing to use. Belch didn’t want Henry to turn that knife on him.

This kid was shorter than Belch, and slower, Henry could easily kick his ass, but he hadn’t seemed to take any of that in consideration when he headbutted Henry and threw himself down the hill. It was one of the most badass things Belch had the pleasure of witnessing.

Belch pulled out a twenty dollar bill out of his wallet and put it on the table. “Here take it. My mom would kick my ass if I didn’t pay for these.”

The other boy smiled, as if the idea of someone Belch’s size being afraid of his mom was something amusing. Maybe it was, but this kid didn’t know his mom. He had seen her lift up the back of a car once. She could be a scary woman when she wanted.

“Thank you.” He still didn’t look completely okay accepting the money, but he did so anyway.

“What’s your name?” Belch asked. If they were going to be friendly Belch should probably call him something other than Tits. 

“It’s Ben. Ben Hanscom.”

“Nice to meet you Ben. I’m Reg, but most people call me Belch.” He held out a hand.

“Yeah, I know.” Ben said shaking his hand. “I mean, most people know who you are.” He said a bit flustered. “Wait...Reg?”

“It’s short for Reginald.” Belch said with a small shrug. “You didn’t think my real name was actually Belch did you?” He asked amused. His real name wasn’t exactly a secret. He wasn’t embarrassed by it. He wrote it on top of all his papers, and heard it during roll call. He was fine with it. It was everyone else who stuck to using his childhood nickname.

Ben bit back a small smile. “No. So what brings you here. I always thought people like you had better places to be than the library during summer vacation?”

“People like me?” Belch teased. He wasn’t offended. He knew that he was the last person people would expect to see at the library.

“I mean, people with friends.” Oh, that was a bit upsetting. He knew Ben was new in town, but surely he had at least one friend. “Maybe I could help?” Ben said, trying to transition away from what he had just implied. “I spend an embarrassing amount of time here. I practically have this place memorized. I could help you find whatever you’re looking for. I’m faster than the Dewey decimal system.”

Belch couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had bullied this kid yesterday and now he was offering to help him, no strings attached. Some people were too kind.

“Uh sure.” Belch said, feeling a bit awkward accepting his help. He sat at the table and waited as Ben went to pay his fines. He stacked the coins up in neat stacks as he waited.

“So, are you looking for something to read for fun?” Ben asked when he returned.

“No, um research I guess.” Belch shrugged.

“Oh cool! What are you researching?” Belch was a bit taken back by how Ben sounded genuinely interested.

“Shit, what’s it called again. It’s like the study of magic monsters and stuff?” Belch asked. He had seen the word before, he knew it existed.

“Cryptozoology?” Ben offered.

“That’s it. I need a book on cryptozoology.” 

“Any particular mythical monster?” Ben asked.

“Demon clowns?” Belch supplied. If such a book existed, it would be best to start there.

He could see Ben tense up. It was like all the color had drained from his face. He looked like Belch had felt earlier, explaining to his friends about what he saw.

“Have you seen anything...impossible lately?” Belch asked cautiously. 

“Yeah,” Ben admitted softly. “Something like that.”

“Henry thinks that Derry might have its own kind of Jersey Devil thing. That’s why all these kids are disappearing.” Belch didn’t know if he should be telling Ben this. He really didn’t want him to be involved, but from the looks of things, he already was.

“I don’t think he’s wrong. Derry’s not quite like other towns. People go missing here a lot, six times the national average. There’s other stuff too. Explosions, fires, deaths, all of that is more common than it should be here in this town.” Ben reaches into his backpack and pulled out a binder. He opened it, showing Belch a few newspaper articles about an explosion at the old irons works. He had circled something in the tree in one of the pictures. It was a head. 

“That’s really cool.” Belch marveled. He had always been into history. He blushed, “Um, not that death and shit is cool. It’s just cool, that you know all this stuff.”

Ben smiled, understanding. He continued to flip through the binder. “I’ve read a lot about the history of Derry. It seems like every 27 years there’s always something. Some big tragedy that leave a lot of people dead.”

“It could just be a coincidence, right?” Belch offered, though not quite believing it himself.

“I don’t think so. It’s too consistent.” Ben said.

“Do you think this weird clown might have something to do with it?” Belch asked.

“Maybe,” Ben said closing the binder. “Maybe the clown is causing these tragedies. Maybe the clown is the tragedy. Part of me wants to know. Another part, not so much.” 

Belch understood that. He still couldn’t shake what happened to him this morning. He wanted to understand but the more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable it made him. It was like poking a sleeping lion, although it seemed like the lion wasn’t sleeping anymore.

“Maybe things weren’t meant to be understood.” Belch said, knowing that neither he nor Ben could really accept that, but Ben nodded anyway.

“Oh shoot,” Ben said looking at his watch. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. I’d promised some people I’d meet them today.”

Some friends, Belch had hoped. Ben deserved people that were going to be as nice to him as he was to everybody else. 

“Hey,” Belch said as Ben was getting up. “Thanks for this. You just let me know if there’s anything I can do to repay you.” He smiled.

“Actually,” Ben began looking nervous. “I’m going to meet some guys down by the quarry. If you could, I don’t know, keep Henry away...” He trailed off, afraid that he was asking for too much.

“Say no more. We never go down that way, so it’s all good.” Belch stood as well and Ben’s eyes widened a bit, as if he forgot how large Belch actually was.

“Thanks, uh have a good day.” Ben said throwing his backpack over his shoulder and heading towards the exit.

“See you around Ben.” His volume earning him a harsh shush from a nearby librarian. 

Belch sighed, he was pretty sure he had learned all that could help. Time to go meet up with the guys.

The Trans Am was still parked where Belch had left it and his friends were still inside, only now they had a bag of chips. Belch glared at them as he approached the car and only Vic had the decency to look a little bit sheepish for breaking the “No food inside the car” rule.

“So?” Henry asked, when Belch was situated in the driver’s seat. 

“This town may be weirder than we first thought.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These two are my precious boys.
> 
> Sorry this went up so late! It was a super rough day. It's not shown in the movie, but in the book Ben's library books get ruined after the fight with Henry and it pisses him the fuck off. It's actually the best thing ever.


	7. Weak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As it turns out, Henry can't avoid home or Pennywise forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!!  
> There are graphic descriptions of both domestic and child abuse as well as murder. The abuse is both physical and verbal. It is not nice. It was not comfortable to write, so I imagine it is equally uncomfortable to read. Please be prepared for that going into this chapter.

When Belch drove up Henry’s driveway, the sun was just starting to go down. Gravel crunched under the tires as they rolled to a stop. The radio was on, but turned down. Even though the music was quiet, the silence in the car made it easy to hear. No one said a word. The tension hung in the air as Henry and Belch sat there for a few moments longer than necessary. 

Henry gripped the door handle. He didn’t want to leave. He could see his father’s police cruiser sitting there, so he knew he was home. He wanted to tell Belch to drive. He wanted to beg his friend to let him stay with him. He didn’t want him to leave him here. His pride would never allow him to say those things.

“See you tomorrow, Henry.” Belch said, like it was a promise, when Henry finally pushed open the door.

“Yeah, see ya,” Henry said as he climbed out of the car. Henry didn’t allow himself to look back at the car as he made his way to the front door like an inmate on his way to the electric chair. He knew Blech was still sitting there, waiting. For what, Henry didn’t know. Maybe he waited to see if Henry would change his mind, to see if Henry could swallow his pride and come back to the car and have a safe place to sleep for the night. He never did.

There’s a reason Belch dropped Henry off last, even though Patrick and Vic lived closer to him. This particular goodbye was harder to do with an audience. Belch didn’t like sending Henry back to his father, but it made Patrick downright furious. Patrick would try to find excuses to keep Henry out as late as he possibly could. Sometimes Henry would welcome them, but most of the time he knew he had to go home. To Patrick, it felt like he lost some sort of unspoken battle between him and Henry’s father. Patrick wasn’t stupid, he knew Henry loved his father. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out why, but for some reason Henry did. Even though Henry never said so, Patrick knew he loved his friends too. Unlike Henry’s father, Patrick actually gave a shit about Henry, which is more than he could say for most of the people in his life. Having Henry chose his father over his friends pissed him off. He wasn’t good at hiding it.

Vic never said much when they dropped Henry off, but that was almost worse than   
Patrick’s angry grumbles. Belch could tell it made it harder for Henry to walk away when Vic was in the car. He didn’t know exactly why that was, but he had a few theories. He wasn’t about to look into those theories, but if he was right then his friends deserved privacy. 

Vic never begged Henry to stay, but Belch could see it in his eyes that he didn’t want Henry to go. He knew Henry could see it too because Henry always hesitated before getting out of the car when Vic looked at him like that.

As much as they all wanted him too, Henry couldn’t avoid going home, not forever. If he spent too long away, he’d only be in more trouble. So, to make it easier on Henry, Belch had made the trip out to his house after dropping off the others.

Belch only drove away once he saw Henry push the door open. It pained him to do so, but he knew Henry wouldn’t be coming back to the car.

Henry closed the door softly behind him. There was no need to draw more attention to himself. If he was lucky Henry would be able to sneak to his room without his father realizing he was there.

“Where the hell have you been all day?” A spike of fear instantly shot through Henry at the sound of his father’s voice. It was like every muscle in his body constricted, and he stood there, tense. His father was sitting in his chair in the living room. He had probably been waiting for Henry to come home. By the time he had seen his son yesterday, he had been too drunk to cause any real damage. Today didn’t look like the case would be the same.

“Out with the guys.” Henry replied, ringing his hands together, but managing to keep his voice steady. Sometimes his father had no problem with him going out with his friends, other times he did. There was no reason behind him feeling one way versus the other, so Henry had no idea if that was an okay answer.

“You think just because it’s summer you can spend all day fucking around?” He dad asked. 

“No sir.” Henry responded, almost robotically. He could already feel himself getting smaller, curling into himself as if that would make him less of a target.

“Get your ass in here when I’m talking to you!” His dad screamed. Henry jumped at the sudden change in volume, but found himself obeying without a thought.

“I said, do you think it’s okay for you to fuck around all damn day just cause you don’t have school?” He repeated once Henry stood in front of him.

“No sir.” Henry replied.

“Then why, after working my ass off to keep a roof over your ungrateful head, do I have to come home to a disgusting house?”

The house was dirty. Just glancing around Henry could see that. He wasn’t sure what the kitchen looked like, but since he hadn’t been home all day he was sure his father had made a mess of it. A mess that Henry was expected to clean up. The living room had plenty of evidence of last night’s drunken stupor. There was plenty of empty beer bottle and even a bottle of whiskey laying on the floor. If Henry looked towards the hall he was sure there would still be broken glass on the floor from when his father had thrown his glass last night.

Henry had tried to stay in his room, but he had gotten hungry. Normally he would grab something while he was out with his friends, or stay over at Belch’s. His mom was always willing to feed him, but with everything that had happened, the group had split up so early that Henry hadn’t eaten dinner. He should’ve ignored the rumbling in his stomach and gone to bed, instead he decided to try and find some food and nearly ended up getting blinded. He wasn’t hungry after that.

“I-I” Henry stuttered, knowing his father wanted a quick response, but not knowing what to say. “I don’t know.” He finished lamely, hanging his head.

“You don’t know?” Henry’s father echoed in a dark voice. He stood up and grabbed a handful of Henry’s hair, forcing his son’s head up to face him. Henry closed his eyes tightly and tried not to cry out in pain. “Do you have a job Henry?”

“No sir.” He couldn’t keep the tremble out of his voice now.

“Then there’s no reason I should come home to a filthy house. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes sir.” His whole body shook uncontrollably. His eyes burned as he held back tears. Crying would only get him in more trouble.

“Pathetic.” He scoffed. “What the fuck did I do to deserve a lazy shit like you for a son?” He let go of Henry’s hair and shoved him roughly to the ground.

Henry hit the floor with a hard thud and hissed in pain when his hand landed on top of a beer bottle, breaking it.

“I found your report card.” His father said, talking down to his son. Henry was about as tall as his father, but now it felt like he towered over him.

Henry’s blunt nails dug into the floor below him. There was no way his dad could’ve just found his report card. It was shoved deep in the bottom of his backpack, which was buried under his bed. Henry knew better than to expect privacy, but the reminder that his dad could and would go through his room always put him on edge.

He didn’t keep anything too personal in his room in case his dad found it. There was one thing. Taped behind a crude poster of a bikini clad woman was a small photo strip. It was a small reminder of the day he and Vic skipped class and went to the movies. It was deserted on a Tuesday afternoon and they had the entire theater to themselves. Henry had even been bold enough to reach out and take Vic’s hand in his. It had been their first real date and at the end of it they slide into the photo booth and got their pictures taken. Henry knew it was dangerous to keep those pictures around, but he couldn’t bring himself to throw them away.

He knew his dad hadn’t found them. He would’ve been far more violent if he had.  
“If you’re looking to end up unemployed, you’re on the right track.” His dad said, picking up the report card from the end table and looking it over. “What’s this shit about you reading below your grade level? Don’t you know how to read?”

“Yes.” Henry mumbled.

“Speak up boy!” His father snapped.

“Yes sir, I know how to read.” Henry said, louder this time, but without the strength and conviction he really wanted.

“Well you could’ve fooled me.” He balled up the report card and tossed it at Henry. “I knew you were stupid, but I didn’t know you were a fucking idiot.”

“I’m not stupid.” Henry couldn’t believe those words came out of his mouth. He hadn’t been thinking, they had just slipped out before his brain had a chance to stop them.

“Are you talking back to me boy?” Butch Bowers asked with a dangerous edge to his voice.

“No sir.” Henry lied, but it was too late. He knew his father had heard him.  
Henry tried to scramble back out of reach, but Butch grabbed his arm, pulling him up to his feet and pushing him against the wall. A hand wrapped around his throat and Henry waited for it to tighten.

“You think you’re not stupid? You must be if you think you have any right to talk back to me. Now say it.” He said, flexing his fingers around Henry’s throat. It wasn’t enough to cut off his air supply, but it was enough to remind Henry that he could.

“Dad, please.” Henry begged. 

“Say it!” He screamed directly in Henry’s face.

“I’m stupid.” Henry sobbed. He couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. No matter how hard he tried they continued to stream down his cheeks. 

“And you’re weak.”

“And I’m weak.” Henry parroted. He felt weak right now, forced up against the wall under his father’s disgusted gaze. It made Henry feel less than human. It was like he was nothing more than dog shit that his father had almost stepped in.

Butch began to back away. He took his hand of Henry’s throat, and punched him hard in the stomach. Henry dropped to his knees as he felt the wind get knocked out of him.

“Get the hell out of my sight.” Butch said as he sat back down in his chair. He turned up the volume on the TV to drown out the sounds of Henry’s sobs. Henry shakily climbed to his feet and headed straight out the door. He couldn’t stand to be in that house any longer. Even his bedroom didn’t feel safe. He didn’t want to see how his father had torn it apart in search of something, anything, to justify being angry at his son. Something to warrant discipline so he could sleep sound believing that he was doing what he should be doing.

Henry didn’t stop walking until he came to the edge of the property. He sat down on a fallen long and wrapped his arms around his body as he let himself cry.

His dad was right. He had barely passed his sophomore year. There was no way Henry was smart enough to go to college. What college would want a screw up like him? Hell, who would even want to hire him? He was going to be trapped in this town, doomed to watch all of his friends leave him behind. Doomed to watch Vic leave him behind.

He choked out another sob as he sat there, shivering as the night air grew colder.

“Henry.” A voice floated through the air. It sounded soft and familiar. It was so soft Henry was sure he must’ve been imagining it.

“Henry.” The voice repeated, louder this time. It sounded closer. Henry’s head jerked up. His mom stood there ten, maybe fifteen feet in front of him. He hadn’t seen her in so long, but there was no doubt in his mind who it was. She was wearing the same dress she’d worn in the photograph that Henry kept in his wallet. It was the same dress she had been wearing the day she died.

Henry wasn’t sure what he should do. He felt like he should run. There was no way she could be standing in front of him. Not when they had buried her almost nine years ago. He couldn’t make himself move though. He just sat there, staring. 

“Did he hurt you Henry?” She asked, like she had asked him so many times before when he was younger.

Henry shook his head no, just like he always did. Even if it was a lie, he always shook his head no, but his mother could always tell when he way lying.

She had a sad smile on her face and Henry knew that she knew. She didn’t offer him any words of comfort. Instead he said, “He hurt me Henry. Do you remember?” She took a single step towards him.

Henry did remember. In all his memories, he couldn’t think of one in which his mother didn’t have a bruise. He noticed the figure now was losing her photoesque beauty. A dark bruise was spreading. It covered almost the entire left half of her face. Henry felt his throat tighten.

“Why didn’t you protect me Henry? Why didn’t you save me?” She continued to get closer as she asked Henry the questions he had asked himself so many times before. The bruise on her face worsened and began bleeding.

He should’ve done something. He had only been six years old at the time, but he knew how to use a phone. He could’ve called for help, but he didn’t. Instead he sat huddled in the corner as he watched his dad repeatedly slam his mom’s face into the floor until she stopped moving. He didn’t even cry out. He didn’t even tell him to stop. He just sat there, crying as quietly as he could, pretending to be invisible.

“Why didn’t you say anything Henry?”

His father had come up to him afterwards, blood still on his hands, and he told Henry to lie. Henry was too scared to protest so when a nice officer sat him down and asked him what happened, he told him exactly what his dad told him to say. That a man had broken into their house while their father was out, and that man had hurt his mom. A man a few towns over was arrested for the crime that Henry knew he didn’t commit. Henry wasn’t even sure what that man’s name was.

“Why did you let me die Henry?” Her voice had changed now. It was no longer the sweet voice he remembered. It was low and bitter. She spat out blood and teeth as she spoke to him. She was close now. Too close for comfort. 

“I float now Henry. You could float too, and your friends.” She smiled, her mouth in an unnaturally wide red toothed grin. Henry didn’t know what floating meant exactly, but he knew he wouldn’t like it.

“No,” Henry stood up, backing away.

“There’s nothing you can do Henry. Your friends will join me.” She continued to walk closer as Henry walked backwards away from her.

Henry felt sick. He didn’t care what happened to himself, but he didn’t want anything to happen to his friends. “Leave them alone.” He spat, trying to feel more anger than fear.

“You can’t save them Henry. You’re stupid and weak. Remember?” She told him.

Henry clenched his fist. His mother, his real mother, would’ve never said those things to him. She wasn’t his father. She never wanted to hurt him. Not like whatever the thing in front of him was. 

“We all float down here.” She laughed. He could see the teeth in her mouth looked different now. Sharper. That was the final push Henry needed.

He turned and ran as fast and as far as his legs could carry him. He wasn’t sure how long he ran, but by the time he arrived at Vic’s house his lungs were burning. He tried to catch his breath and he sorted through the rocks, trying to find the one Patrick had earlier. When he did he pulled the key off. He cursed as he dropped it as he tried to put it in the lock. His hands were still shaking and that made it hard to unlock the door. Finally, he got the door unlocked and Henry pushed his way inside. As he entered the house he nearly ran into Vic who was standing there holding a kitchen knife. 

“Henry?” He asked, confused for a second before dropping the knife as Henry rushed into his arms, holding him tightly.

Victor was stunned for a moment. He could tell Henry was scared. He’d seen it before too many times, but he knew this time was different. It was odd for Henry to seek out comfort until he had completely calmed down. He was so desperate to hold Vic that he hadn’t even closed the front door.

Vic wrapped his arms around Henry and hugged him back until Henry pulled away, looking a bit embarrassed. He had been so overwhelmed with the idea of him getting hurt that he hadn’t thought twice before hugging Vic. He just needed to know that Vic was here and okay.

Luckily Vic didn’t notice the blush on Henry’s cheeks because he was preoccupied with his hand. Henry had forgotten all about that injury until Vic pulled Henry’s hand up to get a better look.

“Shit.” Vic cursed under his breath. “We need to get that cleaned up.” Vic shut and relocked the front door and Henry let Vic manhandle him into the kitchen.

Vic turned on the tap and put Henry’s hand under it while he looked under the sink for the first aid kit.

“What happened?” Vic asked, pulling out the white box. There was a cut across Henry’s palm, but it didn’t look like it would need stitches. 

“I landed on a beer bottle.” Henry replied. Vic didn’t ask what caused Henry to fall. He already knew the answer to that question. He just silently examined the cut, thankful that there didn’t appear to be any glass still in his hand.

He kept Henry’s hand over the sink as he unscrewed the cap on a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. “I don’t suppose I need to warn you that this will sting?” Vic joked lightly and Henry smiled, shaking his head.

Despite that Henry still grimaced when the liquid was poured over his hand. Vic gently patted the wound with a clean towel and wrapped it up in gauze. He brought Henry’s bandaged hand up to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on it. They were alone now and Vic felt more comfortable showing affection. 

“Any other injuries I should know about?” Vic asked.

“Well, my lips are kind of sore.” Henry teased. Victor could tell that Henry had a lot on his mind. Tonight must’ve been a particularly bad night because Henry wasn’t looking him in the eye. 

Vic could feel Henry shaking as he kissed him softly. Henry’s uninjured hand rested on the back of Vic’s head and Henry pulled him into deepen the kiss. This took Vic by surprise. A kiss like this wasn’t anything new to their relationship, but it was rare for Henry to be so affectionate, especially after a fight with his father. Usually he was more on edge, and it would take Vic a while to convince Henry that it was okay to hold him.

“What happened Henry?” Vic asked when he pulled back, his forehead resting on Henry’s. Henry ran his thumb across Vic’s cheek gently.

“I had to make sure you were okay.” Henry whispered to him.

Vic frowned. Henry was the one that was hurt and yet he had to make sure that Vic was okay?

“I saw something.” Henry explained, pulling back and seeing Vic’s confused expression. “Don’t make me saw what, but I...I was scared that something had happened.”

“I’m here.” Vic assured him looking into his eyes. “I’m fine.”

Vic looked at the clock on the wall. It was late, but not terribly so. “Do you want to call the others?”

Henry bit his lip, something he had a habit of doing when he was thinking. Finally, he nodded. There was no way he’d be able to relax until he knew all of his friends were okay.

Vic let go of Henry and watched him walk over the phone on the wall. As Henry called the other’s Vic filled a kettle with water. He and Henry both needed a warm beverage, and it was too late for coffee. He knew Henry couldn’t stand tea, but Vic knew how to make a mean cup of hot chocolate and he didn’t think Henry would complain about the lack of masculinity in drinking it at the moment.

He just finished pouring the mugs when Henry hung up the phone.

“All good?” Vic asked, realizing that Henry’s nerves had been a little contagious. 

Henry nodded, taking the mug from Vic. “Sorry for barging in like that.”

“How did you get in anyway? Did Patrick teach you how to pick a lock?” Vic asked, leading Henry to the living room couch.

“I used the spare key.” Henry said, taking said key out of his pocket.

Vic frowned. “Since when did we have a spare key?”

Henry shrugged. “Ask Patrick, he’s the one who showed me where it was.”

Vic seriously doubted that his parents were the ones who made that key. “Keep it.” Vic told him. Henry’s eyes widened slightly. “I’m serious, you’re over almost every night. It’ll probably be best if you use the front door.”

Henry felt warm inside. He tried to tell himself that it was probably from the cocoa, but he knew that wasn’t it. Vic trusted him wholeheartedly. Enough to allow him to keep a key to his house. It was in that moment that Henry knew he would do anything in his power to protect Vic.

“I think Belch was right earlier. I think we need to leave this thing alone.” Henry said.

Vic wasn’t surprised that Henry had changed his mind. Earlier when Belch had suggested they abandon their quest for answers, Henry had been so sure that was the wrong move. He had said that they all deserved answers. Now he’s seen It. Now he knew how they all felt.

Vic nodded in agreement. Maybe now they could put all of this behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so hard to write. I'm proud of how it turned out, but it deals with stuff that just makes me feel so gross. The next chapter will be much nicer, I promise.
> 
> A special shout out to skepticallysighing on tumblr! Without their amazing support and encouragement I wouldn't be writing as much as I am. A big thanks to you dear!
> 
> If you want to chat feel free to hit me up on tumblr at everythingisnightvale.tumblr.com


	8. Plastic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vic has breakfast with his Mom and the gang goes for a drive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Implied infidelity.

This morning almost felt like things were back to normal. Vic woke up about a quarter to 8. Henry’s arms were wrapped around him in a vice grip. He would’ve been content to stay like this until Henry woke up, but Vic smelled coffee, which meant only one thing. His mom was home.

Vic wiggled his way out of the hold. He watched Henry’s sleeping face fall into a frown at the loss of contact, but he didn’t wake up. He grabbed a pair of jeans off the floor and put them on before making his way out of his room. He closed the door quietly behind him, not wanting to wake Henry. Dealing with his mother was annoying enough, he didn’t want to deal with a pissed off and tired Henry on top of things.

His mom was sitting at the kitchen table when he went downstairs. She looked as proper as ever, not a blonde hair out of place. She was wearing a purple pencil skirt with a matching blazer and a crisp white blouse. Vic had always thought his mother looked like a barbie doll come to life, unceasingly perfect and far too fake. Even her breakfast looked like it was made of of plastic. Two beautifully cooked sunnyside up eggs sat on a small plate alongside two diagonal cut pieces of evenly browned toast. Next to that was a glass of orange juice to sip on along with her coffee.

Across the table from her was an identical plate, that Vic figured must be for him. He didn’t bother to hide his displeased look as he eyed the breakfast. He couldn’t stand runny egg yolks, not that his mother remembered that.

“Good morning Victor. Did you sleep well?” She asked. Vic walked right past her, making a beeline for the coffee maker. The cream was already sitting out, but that wasn’t surprising. If there was one thing Vic inherited from his mother it was their taste in coffee. He filled half of his mug and cream and added a generous amount of sugar before topping it off with coffee. 

“Fine.” He responded as he took his expected seat that the table.

Vic had never seen his mother without makeup, and now was no exception. She wasn’t like Reg’s mom who would walk around in her night dress with rollers in her hair while she made breakfast. No, his mother wasn’t seen unless she was at her best. As he picked at the toast on his plate he couldn’t help but feel like in moments like this his life, his family, was nothing more than a tv show, and the world was their live studio audience. Everything was a scripted sitcom, but Vic didn’t know his lines.

He tried to convince himself that he had stopped playing the role of perfect son long ago. Why bother when his father abandoned his own role in favor of business trips and the out of town women who came with them? He didn’t know if his mother knew what was going on, but he had a feeling she did. She was getting her own on the side, so Vic wasn’t particularly worried about the news breaking her heart. He didn’t know they bothered to keep pretending they loved each other.

His cousin once told him that Vic’s father had never wanted to marry his mother, but once she had gotten pregnant he had no choice. Vic was thankful that he wasn’t attracted to women. He’d never knock some poor girl up and be stuck with her unhappily ever after out of obligation.

If his mother sensed how uncomfortable he was she didn’t say anything.

“I noticed the bathroom door upstairs is broken.” She said casually, as if talking about the weather.

Vic had cleaned up the water to the best of his ability, even fixed the shower curtain with some duct tape, but there was nothing he could do about the door.

“The lock was jammed. I was stuck in there for half an hour before I decided to just break it down.” He lied effortlessly.

She eyed him skeptically. It was possible that she didn’t believe his story, but it was more likely she didn’t believe he could break the door down.

“I’ll make sure your father called someone to fix it the next time he’s in town.” She replied.

“When will that be again?” Vic asked, hoping he didn’t sound as tense as he felt. If he was honest, the idea of being in that bathroom with the door closed was very unappealing. He didn’t want to think about getting trapped in there again.

“He should be back towards the end of next week.” She took a sip of her orange juice. Vic could tell that she looked nervous. “I will be going out of town for a little while too. There’s this big meeting on sales techniques that I have no choice but to attend. I’m sure you understand. I should be back a day or two before your father.”

Vic did understand. He understood that there was no meeting. He was a bit surprised. It was common for his mother to not come home some nights but that was something that they would both just ignore. This was different. She had never been gone for so long before.

“That’s...cool.” He wasn’t sure how to respond. He knew she was most likely looking for some confirmation that he would pretend to believe her lie.

“I trust you’ll get yourself to school while I’m gone.”

Vic frowned. “I don’t have school, mom. It’s summer vacation.” He told her.

“Oh, is it that time already?” He nodded. “Well, in that case, no wild parties.” She attempted to tease, but Vic didn’t even smile. She cleared her throat a bit awkwardly. “Now I want you to have this. It’s just for food and emergencies.” She handed him her bank card.

Vic didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t rare of her to leave him cash. There were several nights where he came home to pizza money laying on the counter for him. She had never given him her bank card before. It made the whole situation even more uncomfortable. 

Vic didn’t want to be here anymore. He didn’t want to be in the middle of his parents various affairs and still be expect to pretend like they were the picture perfect American dream family. He wanted to leave, but he couldn’t think of a quick way out.

Then, as if god themself heard Victor’s cry for a distraction, a loud thud came from his room.

“What was that?” She asked.

Victor stood up, leaving his mostly uneaten breakfast at the table. “Probably Henry” He shrugged.

“Oh, he stayed over?” The rising pitch in her voice told him what he already knew. His mother did not like Henry. He was not the sort of friend his mother wanted him to have. He wasn’t sure what she’d do if she knew about how badly Vic wanted to be upstairs back in Henry’s arms.

Vic grabbed another mug and poured Henry his own cup of black coffee. “I should go see what that was.” He started making his way to the stairs.

“I’ll see you when I get back.” His mother called after him. Then, after a moment of hesitation she added, “I love you Victor.”

He froze, his grip tightening of the mugs he was holding. He knew that this facade of love his mother kept up for his father didn’t reach all the way to him. She meant well. She didn’t know how to deal with the idea of their family falling apart any better than he did. She just didn’t realize that she was the other one who bothered trying to keep it together.

“Yeah, love you too mom.” He hurried up the stairs to his room, not looking back as he went. Interacting with his mom always left him feeling guilty, like he should be trying harder, but he was just a kind. It wasn’t his job to keep his parent’s marriage together.

Opening his bedroom door was difficult with two cups of coffee in his hands, but he managed. Vic couldn’t help but smile when he say that Henry was now laying on the floor. He didn’t know if the blanket had fallen down with him or if he had dragged it down afterwards, but he was still asleep.Vic set their coffee down on his nightstand and brushed some hair out of Henry’s face.

“Mm, Vic?” Henry stirred from his slumber.

“Yes Henry?” Vic said fondly.

“I fell.”

Vic tried and failed to hold back a giggle. “Yeah, I can see that.”

“Put me back on the bed?” He asked, still not fully awake. He hadn’t even opened his eyes.

Vic rolled his eyes at the request. He bent down, trying to pick Henry up, but he wasn’t able to get him more than a few inches off the floor. “A little help please?” Vic asked.

“You’ve got this. You’re stronger than you look.”

“Yeah, and you’re heavier than you look.” Vic teased.

“That’s all muscle.” 

“You sure it’s not just the weight of your ego?”

Henry’s hand shot out and grabbed Vic’s wrist, tugging him down to the floor. Vic eeped at his fell.

“Henry, what the fu-” He all but melted when Henry pressed his lips against his.

He kissed Vic’s lips first, then started kissing up his jaw to the sensitive spot behind Vic’s ear, causing Vic to bite his lip.

“Henry.” Vic protested breathlessly. “Henry stop. My mom’s downstairs.”

Henry pulled back. “Is she?” For once, Henry didn’t look worried at the idea of someone potentially catching him. He looked more confused and surprised. She was hardly ever home.

“Yeah, she’s leaving soon though.” Vic said, getting in a more comfortable position on the floor next to Henry. “She’s going out of town for a whole week, and she left me this.” He pulled out the bank card from his pocket and held it in front of Henry’s face.

“Shit. No joke? I guess lunch is on you then.” He laughed, but that was cut off by a yawn.

Henry sat up and stretched, finally starting to wake up. It was earlier than he wanted to be awake. All he really wanted to do was lay back down with Vic and sleep until noon, but with Vic’s mom in the house, that wasn’t an option. 

Henry’s eye caught the mugs on the nightstand. “Did you bring me coffee?” He asked.

“Of course.”

Henry grinned at him. “You’re the best.”

\------------

 

It was Henry’s idea to go for a drive, but no one in the group complained. It had been a prefered activity of theirs since Belch got his car on his sixteenth birthday. His mom had gotten the car for cheap (perks of owning your own auto body shop) and Belch had spent the months leading up to his birthday helping her fix it up. His friends were almost as excited as he was when it was finally road ready. There was something about having the freedom to go where ever they wanted. It was even sweeter now that it was summer. Nothing could beat the feeling of driving around with the top down blasting Metallica.

Henry bit back a grin as he glanced in the rearview mirror. Patrick’s hair blew wildly in the wind. He was screaming along to the song, using an empty coke bottle as a microphone. Vic played his air guitar. His eyes were closed as if he was concentrating on getting the right notes. Even Belch was beating his hands against the steering wheel as if it was a drumset. They all looked like huge dorks, but Henry couldn’t bring himself to care. It was too much fun.

The first hint he got that there was something wrong was the hint of red, just in the corner of his eye. The next thing he knew that was all he could see. The world had become nothing but red. Hundred, maybe even thousands of red balloons was all Henry could see. It was all any of them could see.

“Shit.” Belch exclaimed as he suddenly couldn’t see the road. He knew he was drifting to the left, into what could potentially be on coming traffic. He panicked and jerked the wheel to the right. He meant to pull over to the side of the road, but in his panic he over corrected and the car started spinning.

Belch’s arm shot out across Henry’s chest, holding him back against the seat as they spun. Patrick was cursing and Vic was screaming, but that was good. If they were making noise it meant they were alive. They were okay.

The car finally stopped spinning and came to a stop on the side of the road. The balloons were nowhere in sight. They had simply disappeared as quickly and mysteriously as they had appeared. They all sat there, music still blasting from the radio, as they all tried to process what just happened. Belch turned off the car and looked around. Henry was understandably tense. One of this hands gripped the door so hard his knuckles we white. His eyes were wide open and Belch could feel him shaky. He seemed frozen in place. Belch had been in a car accident once before when he was younger, but he was fairly certain that Henry hadn’t. He looked a bit freaked out, but thankfully there wasn’t a scratch on him.

He let Henry collect himself as he checked on his friends. Patrick hadn’t worn his seatbelt. He never did. The force of the spin had sent him crashing down on Vic. The two were now clutching their heads. There wasn’t any blood, so they most likely butted heads at some point.

“Everyone alright?” Belch asked, trying to keep the shock out of his own voice.

“I’m gonna be sick.” Vic replied. He hopped out of the car without bothering to open the door. He prompted vomited in the weeds. He never could handle being dizzy.

Belch unbuckled himself and got out of the car to help him. From what he could see the car looked fine. The car was fine, his friends were fine, he was fine. Everything was okay. He took a deep breath and repeated that mantra in his head as he tried to slow his heart rate. He rubbed Vic’s back as his finished throwing up. 

“Henry, can you grab some napkins out of the glove box?” Belch called to him.

That seemed to snap Henry out of the headspace he was in. He began searching through the glove box from the napkins.

“I think I have a concussion.” Patrick whined, rubbing his head.

“You have to have a brain to have a concussion.” Henry told him, leaving the car with a wad of napkins in hand. The gave them to Vic who thanked him as he wiped his mouth off.

“Want some gum?” Henry took the pack out of his pocket and offered it to Vic.

Vic shook his head. “Not unless you have anything mint. I don’t want my mouth to taste like vomit and juicy fruit.”

Henry shrugged and stuck a piece in his mouth.

“Uh guys...” They looked over at Belch. His face had gone pale and it looked like he was going to be sick now. “I...I think I hit someone.” He pointed past them. There, trapped under one of the front wheels of the Trans Am, was the back wheel of a bike.

Henry stared at it. “Well fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr: everythingisnightvale.tumblr.com
> 
> A lot happened today so I'm glad I could get this up. It hasn't been beta read so if you see any corrections that need to be made, hit me up in the comment section or on my tumblr


	9. Pennywise Victims Anonymous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Bowers gang and the Losers Club finally talk things out. Could this be the beginning of new friendships? Unlikely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Additional Chapter Warnings

Henry hadn’t seen Belch this freaked out since he forgot to feed the class hamster in 4th grade. He was sure that any moment now, Belch was going to start hyperventilating. 

“I don’t see anyone. You probably just hit the bike,” Vic said, trying to comfort him. He didn’t sound sure though. There were plants near the bike that looked as if someone had rolled through them. Vic knew the area well. They were right over by the creak. It would’ve been quite the tumble to the rocky bed down below. 

“What are you guys staring at?” Patrick asked as he walked over to the group. “Oh shit, did you hit someone?” Patrick looked at the bike on the ground. All three turned and glared at Patrick.

“No,” Henry snapped. “It was just the bike. If some kid didn’t want it broken, he shouldn’t have left it lying around.”

“I don’t know,” Belch said, looking over at where the weeds had been disturbed. “Maybe I should go down there and check. You know, just to make sure no one’s hurt.” He wrung his hands together as he spoke.

“Are you kidding?” Patrick asked, grabbed Belch’s arm before he could walk down the hill. “We should get out of here before someone sees us. If you actually hit someone we could all be in a lot of trouble.” Patrick frowned. He did not want to go to jail for vehicular manslaughter. 

Belch looked at the others. They didn’t say anything, but he could tell from their faces that they agreed with Patrick. They didn’t want to get in trouble. He knew Henry had a good reason to avoid getting the cops involved.

“They keys are still in the ignition,” he told Henry. “I’m going to go check it out. You guys don’t have to stick around.”

“Reg.” Vic reached out a hand, but he stopped when he saw the look on his friend’s face. There was no talking him out of this.

Belch had never been a leader, but lately he had been following too many orders that he didn’t agree with. If Ben Hanscom had the courage to headbutt a guy after having his stomach cut open, then Belch could listen to his better judgement and make sure no one was hurt, even if that wasn’t what Henry wanted.

He stared Henry in the eye, daring him to object. Henry wanted too, but there was no use telling Belch what he already knew. He sighed and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his back pocket and put one in his mouth, lighting it.

“I’m leaving when this cigarette is done.” Henry said. Belch heard his message loud and clear. He would wait for him, but not for long.

Belch nodded and set off down the hill.

\----

Mike Hanlon was getting real fucking tired of almost getting hit by cars. He just wanted to do his job. He was lucky. He had jumped off of his bike the moment he was the familiar blue car spinning his way and ended up rolling down the hill.

Mike wasn’t stupid. He knew it had been an accident. Unless Bowers was friends with some Hollywood stunt drivers, there’s no way anyone had control over that car. That didn’t mean he wasn’t mad. If the vehicle had belonged to anyone other than his tormentors he would’ve been worried about their safety. Instead he was more concerned with the throbbing in his own head. Rocks were not the most comfortable place to land after a roll down a hill.

Mike sat up and rubbed the back of his head. As he did so, he could hear someone jogging down.

“Shit. Hey, are you okay?” Mike turned towards Belch Huggins and groaned internally. He seemed to be alone, which was the only good thing about this situation. Mike had heard rumors. People called him the softest member of Bower’s gang. It was hard to believe when the kid looked big enough to throw a car across that parking lot.

“You make a habit of trying to run people over,” Mike grumbled. 

Belch at least had the decency to look guilty. “Sorry. I didn’t exactly have control of the car back there,” he said, a bit sheepishly. He held out a hand for Mike.

Mike eyed it warily. He hesitated but took the hand, allowing Belch to help him to his feet.

“Yeah, I noticed.” He felt the back of his head again. There wasn’t any blood, which was a plus, but he could already feel a small bump forming. Just then, he caught something moving just out of sight. He turned to look at it and froze. There was a clown. He could see it clear as day. Its mouth was covered in blood and it was holding what looked to be a human arm.

Belch must have seen it too. “Jesus fuck!” He called out in surprised, instinctively pulling Mike behind him so Belch stood between Mike and the clown.

“Please tell me you see this too.” Belch said, and all Mike could do was nod as the clown used the severed human arm to wave at the boys.

They both stood there frozen in place, too afraid to even run away. Belch couldn’t help but stare into the thing’s yellow eyes.

“Reg, what the fuck is going on?” Henry’s voice carried across the clearing as he ran down to where Belch and Mike stood. Patrick and Vic were close behind him. They must have heard Belch shout earlier.

“Hanlon? What are you doing here?” Henry said, turning his attention on the smaller boy. Mike tensed. Henry didn’t look as angry as he usually did when he saw Mike, but he didn’t look particularly happy either.

Before Henry had a chance to say anything insulting, Belch spoke up.

“It was here, Henry.” Henry studied his friend’s expression. Belch had been worried when he came down here, but now he looked terrified. Belch looked over to where it had been hiding, but the clown was gone. That only made Belch feel more nervous. It could be anywhere.

“What was?” Patrick asked.

“It.” Belch said, and Henry understood. They needed to get out of there.

The older boys glanced at each other. Mike could tell that, like him, they had experienced that thing before. Henry seemed completely uninterested in Mike now. He wasn’t even acknowledging his existence. Mike wasn’t about to question this unspoken truce of sorts. He wanted to get out of here as much as they did.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a rock shot out and hit Henry in the upper chest. He hissed out in pain. His collar bone wasn’t broken, he had broken it before and knew was that felt like. It still hurt like a bitch. He looked over in the direction the rock came from, and there stood Beverly Marsh in all her glory. The band of losers falling in behind her.

“Leave him alone Bowers.” She said with an expression that clearly stated that she was not messing around. “Or the next one’s going at your head.” She picked up another rock.

Vic stepped in front of Henry to shield him from any more rocks, the ice in his glare meeting the fire in Beverly’s. “We didn’t do anything to him.” He spat out.

Mike took advantage of the distraction and rushed towards the new group. Henry and his gang hadn’t shown any signs of going after him, but Henry’s expression was darkening and Mike wasn’t going to take any chances. He didn’t know these kids, not formally, but if they didn’t like Bowers then they were alright in his book.

“Yeah right!” Richie yelled back. “We saw his bike. You were trying to flatten him!”

“We weren’t trying to hit him.” Patrick narrowed his eyes. He took a few steps towards the other group. His long legs helping him cover a lot of ground. “We were trying to avoid the 99 fucking luft balloons.”

Silence hung in the air as most of the losers exchanged confused looks. If Patrick was lying, he certainly could’ve come up with something better than-

“Balloons?” Eddie questioned, cutting off everyone’s train of thought. “Did you say balloons?” His voice sounded tight. He scrambled to pull out his inhaler and shoved it in his mouth.

“W-what’s wrong Eddie?” Bill leaned in closer to his friend.

“The clown. When I saw the clown it had a ton of red balloons. A whole bunch of them on just one string.” He explained to them in a panicked whisper.

“Shit, you don’t think...” Stan trailed off.

Ben and Belch looked into each other’s eyes and Ben understood what he needed to do.

“They’ve seen it too.” Ben told his friends.

“What did you say?” Henry narrowed his eyes.

“The thing that’s been terrorizing Derry. You guys have seen it too.” It wasn’t a question. Ben knew.

“How did you-” Vic started.

“I told him. I ran into him at the library. He’s the one who gave me all the information about Derry.” Belch told him.

Patrick walked back over closer to his group. “You think you would’ve mentioned that before hand.” He said.

“You shouldn’t be telling other people our business.” Henry hissed.

“It’s not just ours. Not anymore.” Belch said, looking back at Ben.

Henry seemed to consider this for a bit, then he looked at Bill. “You guys have seen things too.”

Bill nodded.

“And what about you, Hanlon?” Henry asked, looking directly at him.

“Yeah. I’ve seen it.” Mike said, not breaking eye contact.

Henry cursed under his breath. “We should probably talk about this or something.” He said shoving his hands in his pocket. “Not here though. It was just here and right now, we’re just standing around like an all you can eat buffet.”

“W-w-we were heading to the f-fair.” Bill said. 

“We’ll meet you there then.” Henry jerked his head toward the hill, signalling to his friends that they needed to get going.

“Bloody hell William. Don’t chu think you should’a asked us before invitin’ Bowers round for tea?” Richie said in his terrible British accent. 

Bill looked at his friends, none of them looked comfortable with the situation. They all hated Bowers for their own reasons. 

“How do we know they didn’t summon this thing?” Eddie asked. “I’ve heard rumors Hockstetter makes sacrifices to satan in the old junkyard.”

“I don’t think so.” Ben said shaking his head. “I talked to Reg about it. They seem as freaked out as we do.”

“Since when is he ‘Reg’ to you” Richie said, choking out the name Reg like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

“They c-could help us find G-g-georgie.” Bill said.

“You think they’d actually be willing to help?” Stan asked. He didn’t mean to sound so cruel, but he couldn’t imagine Bowers or any of his friends helping them do anything except get to an early grave.

Bill looked at Beverly. She didn’t look like she agreed with what Bill was saying, but she couldn’t help but trust his judgement. “There’s no harm in talking to them. You said the summer fair is popular right? Not even they are stupid enough to try to mess with us with so many people around.”

“What say you, homeschool?” Richie asked.

Mike thought for a moment. “I don’t like them, but I’d be willing to hear what they have to say.”

Bill looked at his oldest friends. It was hard to say no when Bill looked so desperate. He could tell that he was wearing Eddie and Stan down, but Richie stood firm.

“Come on Rich.” Bill said.

Richie groaned. “Fine, sure, whatever, but if things turn sour, I am well within my right to use you as a human shield.” 

With that the group set off for the Derry Summer Fair.

\-----

Henry wasn’t fond of the fair. It was crowded, everything was over priced, and there wasn’t anything to do if you were older than 10. Not to mention, just about every cop in Derry was out walking around. Henry kept his head down as he and his friends waited for the others to arrive.

“Okay, but do we have to do this?” Patrick asked for what might have been the fourth time.

“No one is making you stay Patrick.” Henry said, shoving him off the bench. It was hot outside. Too hot to listen to Patrick’s whining. 

“If I had known we were spending time outside I would’ve but on sunscreen.” Vic said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“Poor Vic is delicate.” Patrick said, reaching out to pinch Vic’s cheek.

He smacked Patrick’s hand away. “I’m not delicate, you asshole. I’m pale.” He stood up. “I’m going to get some ice cream, you want some?” Vic looked at Henry.

“Nah, I’m good.” He responded. Vic continued to look at him with a raised eyebrow. “I said I’m good.”

“I’m not going to let you eat half of mine.” Vic said, putting his hands on his hip.

“I don’t want ice cream, Vic.” He said.

“Okay,” Vic still didn’t sound convinced, but he turned and walked in the direction of the ice cream vendor.

“Jeez, you guys fight like an old married couple.” Patrick joked. Henry balled up his fist, ready to strike.

“When do you think the others will arrive?” Belch asked hoping to defuse the tension. “It’s not that far of a walk.”

“Maybe they decided not to show.” Henry said with a shrug.

“We’re not exactly their favorite people.” Patrick added.

Belch didn’t look convinced. “Ben will show.” He said confidently.

Henry rolled his eyes. “Since when did you and the twerp become friends?”

“I just, I see myself in him. We have some stuff in common.” Belch shrugged.

“Cause you’re both fat?” Patrick asked.

“Fuck off, Patrick.” Belch said shoving Patrick, who slipped off the back of the bench he was sitting on and onto the dirt below. Belch didn’t apologize. “Look, sometimes it’s just easier to not have any friends then to risk being rejected. If Henry hadn’t decided we were friends then...I don’t know. He’s pretty cool. We messed with him and he still helped me out. Not to mention he totally kicked your ass, Henry.” He smirked.

Henry scoffed. “As if, he got in one cheap shot.” But Henry’s grin showed that he was at least a little bit impressed.

\----

Vic ordered himself a scoop of strawberry ice cream as well as a vanilla ice cream cone for Henry. Sure Henry had said he didn’t want any, but Vic knew better. It was either share his ice cream or buy Henry his own and Vic was too hot to share.

“Well hello, long time no see.” A familiar voice said, and Vic couldn’t help but roll his eyes. That seemed to be a knee jerk reaction whenever Richie Tozier opened his mouth. “What’s your name again?”

The smaller boy, Eddie was his name if Vic was remembering correctly, elbowed Richie in the side, desperately trying to get his friend to stop talking.

“Vic.” He offered, stepping out of the way so the other two could buy their own ice cream.

“You don’t talk much, do you Vicky?” Richie asked.

Vic made a face at the nickname.

“Beep beep, Richie.” Eddie hissed, giving Vic a weary look, as if waiting for the older boy to start throwing punches.

“I talk a normal amount. You’re just constantly blabbering, so I seem quiet by comparison.” Vic told him with a teasing smile.

Richie stood there stunned for a moment, his mouth hanging open. Truth be told, neither he nor Eddie knew what to expect from the older blond. Henry or Patrick would’ve almost surely responded with violence. Belch tended to ignore the group completely. Vic was somewhere in between there. He hadn’t expected the quick comeback, or the smirk. It made Richie blush slightly.

The sound of Eddie trying to hold back a laugh snapped him back to reality. 

“Don’t laugh at that!” Richie said with a frown. “It wasn’t even that funny.”

“Funnier than any joke you’ve ever told.” Eddie teased.

“Why you little-” Richie gasped, cutting himself off. He’d eyed something as the marching band went past. He held his ice cream cone out to Eddie. “Babe hold this.”

Eddie took the ice cream cone, but before he could ask Richie what was up, the other left. He made a beeline for someone in the marching band and promptly took the instrument.

“Babe?” Vic asked, raising an eyebrow.

Eddie blushed. “Don’t think too much about it. He has a plethora of nicknames for me that I hate.” Vic was familiar with Eddie’s defensive tone. It was one he used many times before when Patrick hinted that he felt anything more for Henry than friendship. 

“I better get back to the others.” Vic said when he noticed the ice cream starting to melt. “We’re over at a bench by the stage.” 

“Okay, yeah, we’ll meet you over there.” Eddie said, feeling the awkwardness returning. The unsure expression on Vic’s face let Eddie know that he was in the same boat.

Vic walked back to his friends and gave Henry the ice cream cone. Henry looked at the offending treat. The one he specifically said he didn’t want. He had been lying of course. It was hot and ice cream sounded amazing, but he didn’t want Vic to get it for him.

He took it anyway, but he didn’t say thank you.

“Nothing for me Vicky?” Patrick teased. Vic flipped him off. He briefly wondered if Richie would drop the nickname if he knew Patrick used the same one. Richie most certainly would not want to be compared to Patrick.

“Hey, you’re here.” Belch brightened up as the losers walked over to them, Ben leading the pack. He seemed to be the one most comfortable approaching the gang. Probably because of the tentative truce between him and Belch.

“Took you long enough.” Henry rolled his eyes. “We shoud’a left you kept us waiting for so long.”

“And y-yet ya-ya didn’t.” Bill said, staring defiantly into Henry’s eyes.

The rest of the losers tensed up. They didn’t agree to this meeting so Bill could pick a fight.

“Ben has a theory.” Beverly spoke up, hoping to distract the group. “He thinks there’s a pattern. This thing comes around every 27 years.”

“So this thing what? Comes out from wherever, enjoys kid hunting season, and then takes a really long nap?” Henry asked.

“Maybe it’s like, what do you call it, cicadas?” Stan offered.

“What those bugs that come out ever 17 years to scream and fuck?” Patrick said. No one laughed.

“My grandfather thinks this town is cursed. He says that all the bad things that happen in this town is because of one thing.” Mike said. “An evil thing, that feeds off the people of Derry.”

“How is that even possible?” Vic asked. “We all saw something different. Didn’t you?”

“We did. Maybe it knows what scares us most, and that’s what we see.” Mike replied.

“We thought of that.” Belch said. “But Patrick said-”

“You’re forgetting something.” Henry interrupted. “Patrick is full of shit. You think he’d actually admit that those zombies freaked him out?”

“Zombies?” Richie questioned. He looked far too amused with the idea that Patrick was afraid of some cheap hollywood monster.

“I prefer the term reanimated corpses of my dead classmates. It feels a bit more accurate.” Patrick said.

“Wait, y-you saw some of the m-m-missing kids?” Bill asked. His real question was clear. Did you see Georgie?

“Yeah a few of them. Betty Ripsom and a couple others in my grade.” Not Georgie. Bill felt himself relax a bit.

“I saw a leper.” Eddie admitted. “It was like a walking infection.”

“But you didn’t, because it isn’t real.” Stan said.

“Sure felt real.” Vic mumbled. He remembered the burning in his lungs as his struggled to hold in air.

“None of it is though. Not Eddie’s leper, or Bill seeing Georgie, or the woman I keep seeing.” Stan listed.

“Is she hot?” Both Richie and Patrick asked that the same time.

“No.” He snapped, obviously offended at the question. “She’s not hot. Her face is all messed up. None of this makes any sense. It’s just like bad dreams.”

“I know the difference between a bad dream, and real life.” Henry told him.

“What did you see?” Eddie asked. “Did you see something too?”

All eyes were on Henry now. He dug his nails into the palms of his hands. He didn’t want to talk about this. He hadn’t even told Vic yet, how could he make himself tell a group of people he barely knew? How did he know they wouldn’t use this information against him?

“We all did.” Belch spoke up to save him. “What about you?”

Mike told them the story of how he lost his parents. Henry didn’t know how he never made the connection. He knew that Mike lived with his grandfather on the farm, but it never occurred to him that Mike had lost his parents.

Henry’s dad had talked about the fire like it was the best thing that had happened to Derry in the last 30 years. It was like it had been a blessing from god. Henry hadn’t known why. He never bothered to look into it. He felt sick thinking about it now. Mike had lost his parents and his dad had treated it like it was Christmas day. 

The air hung heavy between them as conversation tapered off. They all hesitantly agreed to meet at Bill’s house the following day. Bill had a theory he wanted to test, a way of figuring out where It lived. Henry wasn’t sure why he found himself saying yes. After all, didn’t a wise man once say curiosity killed that cat? He knew getting too involved with this was a bad idea, but a part of him needed to know. If this thing was living in his town then shouldn’t he know where?

He and his friends had agreed to stay far away from the sewers after Patrick’s encounter, but that hadn’t kept them safe. Both Vic and Belch were attacked at home. It was as if It could be anywhere it wanted.

He looked at Bill. The younger boy had a look of determination on his face. He was so certain he was going to find his little brother. If Henry was honest, he hoped he did too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TA DA! So there you go. They've finally met. It only took 9 chapters but the team up I promised is underway. 
> 
> Writing Bill's stutter is honestly the most difficult part of this entire story.
> 
> Hit me up on tumblr at everythingisnightvale.tumblr.com I post additional headcanons and I even have a post going around with little tidbits from this story.


	10. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry and his friends head over to Bill's to look into the mysterious thing that lurks below Derry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Additional Chapter Warnings

Henry refused to let himself think about how quickly his life was changing as they drove to Bill Denbrough’s house. Belch had put in an ACDC tape when he picked Henry up. No one was really in the mood to talk, but at the same time they needed something to fill the silence.

“I think this is stupid,” Patrick grumbled. He wasn’t happy to be doing this, and yet despite that he was still sitting in his usual spot in the backseat.

“Yeah, well no one asked you,” Henry said rolling his eyes. He hadn’t forced Patrick to come along. 

“You’re the one who said we should leave this thing alone,” Patrick reminded him. “Now we’re gonna try to find where it lives?”

“I think, if we know where it lives, we can know where not to go,” Belch said, trying to hide the fact that he was nervous. Henry could see how hard he was gripping the steering wheel. He was pretty sure, out of everyone in the car, Belch was the most sure about helping out Bill and his band of losers. He had struck up some sort of friendship with Ben and Belch was nothing, if not protective of his friends.

“I think Henry has a soft spot for the stuttering freak. First, he told us not to mess with him. Now we’re actually hanging out with him.” Part of Henry knew that Patrick was just trying to pick a fight. It was some sort of unhealthy coping mechanism that he and Henry shared. It was a way for them to regain control.

“Fuck, Patrick. His little brother is missing,” Henry said. He clenched his fists at his sides. Henry knew what it was like to lose someone. He could understand why Bill would be holding onto any kind of hope.

“His little brother is dead,” Patrick replied. “I know it. You know it. His friends know it. He’s the only one who won’t get with the program.”

Henry’s fingernails dug into his palms as he tried to keep his cool. He was already on edge and Patrick was just making things worse. “Stop being a dick!” Henry hissed at him. “You think of all people, you would understand what he’s-”

“You better not finished that thought Bowers,” Patrick’s voice was dark and eerily serious. It was far different from his usual tone. A clear sign that Patrick wasn’t messing around.

Henry knew it was a low blow. Patrick didn’t have many off limit subjects, but Avery was one of them. Henry bit his tongue. He wasn’t going to give in and give Patrick the fight both of them wanted. He was seeking for anything to distract him from the sinking feeling in his stomach, but he had to focus.

It was true that they had all agreed to drop the subject of creepy man-eating clowns. It was summer after all. Their last summer before college applications took priority over fun. It wasn’t something they could ignore though. It was still out there, killing. Henry didn’t feel particularly inclined to protect the town of Derry, but he needed to know every bit of information he could find about this thing. Anything to help keep his friends safe. 

They pulled to a stop by the curb in front of Bill’s house. There were bikes laying on the front lawn already, so they knew the others were there.

“Just let Mike set up the projector, Richie. He knows what he’s doing,” Eddie’s voice was laced with irritation as it echoed through the garage.

“I’m just trying to help,” Richie huffed.

“You’re trying to get on my last nerve,” Eddie rolled his eyes.

Henry and the others took in the sight as they stood in the opening of the garage. No one seemed to notice them. Mike was busy setting up the projector, while Beverly and Stan gathered anything that could be sat on and placed them in a neat row. Ben was clearing an area of the wall where Henry assumed the projection would be. Eddie was just trying to babysit Richie and Bill was nowhere in sight.

Having no better idea on how to make an entrance, Belch cleared his throat awkwardly to announce their arrival.

“You’re here,” Ben smiled at Belch, but he was the only one of the group that looked happy that they were there, and Eddie didn’t look like he was going to have an asthma attack just from looking at them, so Vic considered it to be an overall improvement.

“I, um, brought snacks,” Belch held up a tupperware container. That seemed to peak the other’s interest.

“We’re trying to stop a murderous thing and you...brought snacks?” Stan raised an eyebrow.

“You get used to it,” Vic said with a shrug. “Reg brings snacks to everything.”

“Yeah, take this guy to a movie and you’ll never have to pay for popcorn. He’ll just pull an entire cookie jar out of his coat,” Patrick snickered.

“That was one time!” Belch exclaimed. He sat the container down so people could help themselves, “besides, someone has to feed you three. Vic is so skinny a strong breeze could blow him over.”

Vic was about to protest when Richie spoke up.

“A strong breeze did blow Eds over, and yes, it was as hilarious as you’re imagining it was,” Richie took a bite of his brownie, “holy shit, this is good!”

“Is there orange in this?” Ben asked.

“Yeah, my mom mad them,” Belch rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. 

“Her white chocolate raspberry ones are even better, but she only whips those up when raspberries are in season,” Patrick said.

“Ugh, I think I’m in love,” Richie said with a mouthful of brownie.

“Wh-Wh-What’s up?” Bill asked as he stepped into the garage holding a folded up map.

“Nothing much Big Bill. I’ve just decided Ed’s mom and I are history. Belch’s mom is now the woman for me,” Richie all but swooned.

“Tough luck four-eyes,” Patrick said, using Richie’s head as an armrest. “I already called dibs on Reggie’s mom.”

“Please, like you know how to pleasure an older woman like I do. I’ve kept Eddie’s mom satisfied for years now,” Richie grinned.

“Jeezum,” Vic said, exasperated. “What’s that thing you said yesterday?” he asked Eddie.

“Beep Beep Richie.” Eddie supplied, giving Richie a look that was begging him to keep his mouth shut.

“Fine, whatever, let’s get this show on the road,” Richie plopped down in a seat.

Bill hung the map and the garage door was closed. Soon the projector illuminated the room. He inserted a slide and a map of old town Derry appeared over the map of the sewer system. They all studied it for a moment.

“Look, th-that’s where G-G-Georgie disappeared. There’s the iron works, and the Black Spot.” Bill pointed to different locations on the map. “Everywhere It happens. I-It’s all connected by the sewers, and they all meet up at the-”

“The well house,” Ben exclaimed.

“It’s in the house on Neibolt street,” Stan pointed out.

“You mean that crazy crack house?” Henry asked. He avoided going past that place. It gave him the creeps. Patrick told him that he had spent the night in that house on a whim, but Henry was pretty sure Patrick was full of shit.

“I hate that place,” Beverly admitted, “it always feels like it’s watching me.”

“That’s where I saw It. That’s where I saw the clown,” Eddie said in a shaky voice.

“Th-tha-tha-that’s where It lives,” Bill said, sounding far too happy about that.

“I can’t imagine anything wanting to live there,” Stan said.

“I can imagine at least four, and none of them are good,” Patrick replied.

“Can we stop talking about this?” Eddie asked standing up in front of the projector. “I-I-I can barely breathe. This is summer. We’re kids. I can barely breathe. I’m having a fucking asthma attack.”

Vic was up in an instant walking over to Eddie. “No you’re not. You’re having a panic attack. Come sit back down.” He had seen this before. Henry had a few in the past and Vic was always the one to talk him down. Eddie didn’t seem interested in listening.

“I don’t care what kind of attack I’m having. I’m done,” Eddie ripped the map off the wall.

“Put the map back,” Bill said.

“Mm mm,” Eddie hummed, staring defiantly at Bill.

Just then, the projector flipped to the next slide. Then the next one. They all stared as it flipped through Bill’s family photos. It flipped faster, faster than it should’ve been able to go. It zoomed in on Bill’s mother’s face. Her hair seemed to blow in the wind. As her hair left her face, the group found themselves looking at the clown.

“What the fuck is that?” Richie screamed. “What the fuck is that?” He repeated, pulling Eddie closer.

“I don’t fucking know!” Eddie screamed back.

The group pushed themselves up against the wall furthest away from the projected image. 

“Turn it off!” Bev said, and the others screamed in agreement.

Without thinking, Mike kicked over the projector. It didn’t stop. The image of the clown flashed before them a few times before it disappeared. They didn’t have a chance to relax. The light flickered out and when it returned, the clown was there with them in the garage. 

Stan, who was closest to the monster, dove out of the way. It was larger than they had ever seen it before. It grinned, It’s mouth was full of rows of sharp teeth. 

The lights continued to flicker as it moved towards them. They hurried to get away, trying desperately to find some exit in the barely lit garage. Vic was so scared he could barely think straight. All he could do was scream as It got closer to him. Vic and Beverly were trapped, backed into a corner with nowhere to go. Its hand was outstretched to him and for a moment, Vic was sure this was going to be their end.

Then light flooded the room as the door was pushed up and open. It was gone, as if It had never been there at all.

Beverly pushed passed Vic, still trembling as she thanked Ben for opening the door, then wrapped her arms around Bill. Vic was afraid that if he moved, his knees would give out. Belch put an arm around his waist and Vic let himself be supported by his larger friend. Henry reached out and put a hand on Vic’s shoulder, squeezing it gently to let Vic know he was there.

Belch was worried Patrick would shut down like he did the last time he came face to face with that thing. All the color had drained from his face. Belch was scared too, of course, but he swallowed that fear down for the sake of his friends. Henry looked like he was barely keeping it together, and the others were just kids. Someone had to keep their head in a situation like this.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.” Patrick gripped his hair in his hands, getting louder with each swear word.

“It saw us,” Eddie said. He was out of breath, but so was everyone else around him. “ It saw us and it knows where we are.”

“It always knew,” Henry said, reassuring absolutely no one.

“S-So let’s go,” Bill said. His eyes were filled with a new determination.

“Go? Go where?” Ben asked, already dreading the answer.

“Neibolt,” Bill responded.

“No,” Vic shook his head. “Fuck no. Not after that.”

“Tha-tha-that’s where Georgie is.” Bill held firm, but his eyes looked almost desperate. 

“You’re insane,” Henry shook his head.

“Yeah,” Richie agreed. “It’s summer-”

“If you say it’s summer one more f-f-fucking time,” Bill snapped.

“Do you think this is what Georgie would’ve wanted?” Henry asked walking towards Bill.

“You don’t know wh-what Georgie wanted.” Bill’s hands tightened into fists at his side.

“If you go to that house you’re going to get yourself killed,” Henry hissed. “You think your brother would’ve been happy about that.”

“Fuck you, Bowers,” Bill growled. “You’re just a bully and a coward.”

“So what if I am? I’m not going to lead my friends into an early grave,” Henry shouted back at him.

Bill picked his bike up off the ground and looked back at his friends, “I’m not g-gonna tell you wh-what to do, but I’m going.” With that, he mounted his bike and took off.

Beverly grabbed her bike and the rest of the losers slowly walked towards theirs. No one looked excited, but they knew they had to stand by their friend. Henry and his friends stayed put.

“Guys, come on. We can’t let him do it alone,” Beverly encouraged.

“The hell we can’t,” Patrick said, shoving his hands in his pockets, “he made his choice.”

“Reg?” Ben looked at his friend, silently pleading with him to come along.

Belch looked at him, then at Vic, who was still shaking from his earlier encounter. “Sorry, kid. There are just some things in this world that we aren’t meant to understand,” he said, repeating the words he had said to Ben once before.

Ben threw one last pleading look over his shoulder before getting on his bike and following the rest of his friends down the road after Bill.

Henry, Belch, Patrick, and Vic stood in Bill’s drive way watching the others leave. No one said anything for a bit. Henry turned back to look at his friends. Belch, who was usually the most emotional of the group, stood there like a rock for his friends. His expression was unreadable. Patrick seemed to be unsure if he wanted to be scared or angry, but he seemed to be settling more on angry. 

Then there was Vic. The smallest of the group was still leaning on Belch for support. He had tears in his eyes, but he hadn’t cried yet. He was trying to keep himself together. Vic had come so close to that thing, closer than any of them. Henry had almost lost him. He had stood by and watched as Vic was helpless.

Henry surged forward and grabbed Vic’s wrist. He pulled the other boy into his arms and kissed him. He knew Vic was okay. He could feel his heart rate increase as Henry held him close. Vic was just starting to melt into the kiss when Patrick spoke.

“Not that this isn’t touching, but probably not the best place.”

Henry and Vic jumped back a little. Vic was still in Henry’s arms and he had no intention in letting go. They studied their friends’ expressions. Patrick seemed to have forgotten his anger and was now grinning at the pair. Belch was avoiding looking at them. Despite it being in public, he felt like it was a private moment and he didn’t want to stare. He wasn’t surprised by the kiss. Not really.

“Um,” Vic started, not sure what to say.

“Why don’t we just go get in the car, and I can have shotgun for a change.” Patrick said, already walking towards the Trans Am. He smirked and Henry couldn’t help, but want to punch that smirk off his face. He didn’t, because as annoying and smug as Patrick was at this moment, he was handling this situation beautifully. It was if Patrick lived for moments like these, moments that left Henry embarrassed.

It felt weird being in the backseat of Belch’s car. Since Belch had gotten it, Henry had only ever sat in the front. He wasn’t missing it too much as he sat with his hand intertwined with Vic’s. He knew Belch deserved some sort of explanation, but Henry couldn’t seem to find the words. He didn’t seem angry or disgusted, so they were off to a pretty good start.

“How long have you guys been...boyfriends?” Belch said, unsure of the words he should use.

Vic blushed, just like he did every time he thought about Henry being his boyfriend. “Since around Christmas,” Vic admitted.

“Oh cool. That’s um, that’s great. I’m happy for you guys.” 

Six months was a long time to be dating someone, it was also a long time to keep a secret from a friend. Henry had been terrified of his friends finding out. He didn’t want to risk losing them. Now that they both knew, and seemed okay with it, he had to admit he felt better. It was torture to spend almost all his time with Vic and have to pretend like he wasn’t falling head over heels for him.

That thought made Henry pause. He knew he liked Vic, but love was an entirely different ball game. A dangerous one at that.

“You okay Henry?” Vic asked, stroking Henry’s hand with his thumb.

“Yeah. No. Fuck, we could’ve died in there.” He laid his head back and stared at the clouds as they drove.

“But we didn’t.” Belch reminded him.

“So what now?” Vic asked and the question hung in the air for a little bit.

“Anyone else wanna grab some food?” Patrick asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, so we thought a beautiful friendship was forming, but we were wrong...or were we? Anyway, that was chapter 10.
> 
> As usual hit me up on tumblr at everythingisnightvale.tumblr.com
> 
> I'm super excited for Monday's chapter. Like the next chapter has been the one I've been the most excited about posting since I started writing the story. I can't wait to share it will you.
> 
> If you're interested in all in learning how to make Belch's Mom's Chocolate Orange brownies then comment on this story or message me on tumblr. If enough people are interested I'll post the recipe.


	11. July Passed in a Blur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> July in 1989 was possibly the worse month for each member of the losers club. Having friends and losing them only made the loneliness hurt worse. The Bowers Gang is busy pretending like the first month of summer never happened. Slowly, both groups are beginning to realize just how much they need each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Additional Chapter Warnings

Reg hadn’t intended on getting a job this summer. Sure he had tossed the idea round a few times, but he knew if he wasn’t around to keep an eye on Patrick and Henry, they’d get themselves hurt. Vic would be there, but he was content to hang back and let them learn the hard way that their actions had consequences. 

Belch would never forget the time he had gone to visit his Aunt Edith in Vermont and had come back to Henry and Patrick with identical missing front teeth (baby teeth thankfully). Henry had got it in his head that a trashbag could function like a parachute and they had both jumped off Vic’s garden shed to test this theory.

That being said, when his mom asked if he’d be willing to help out at the shop, he jumped at the chance. He’d get to work on cars and earn a little cash. That sounded like a great afternoon to him. He even got his own jumpsuit, complete with his last name embroidered above the left breast pocket. 

The first part of the day passed quickly. His mom was running a summer special on oil changes and there were more cars at the shop than Belch had ever seen before. It felt good to be working with his hands. It was a much needed distraction.

July was passing before him in a blur and he hadn’t seen any signs of the thing lurking in the sewers below Derry since that day in Bill’s garage. Henry and the others were all pretending like it never happened.They all found ways to stay busy to keep It out of their thoughts.

Henry had passed his driver's test with flying colors and was trying to convince Belch to help him fix up the old pickup truck that sat out by Henry’s garage. Belch was pretty sure it was a lost cause, but Henry was so excited that it was impossible to say no.

Not much had changed since Henry and Vic opened up about being a couple. They sat closer together and sometimes Vic would sneak a kiss and make Henry blush, but they were the same people. Belch was relieved the group dynamic hadn’t changed. 

Patrick hung around more. Before the summer, it would not have been out of place for Patrick to disappear and be by himself for weeks at a time, only to rejoin the group with no explanation. Now that was no longer the case. Perhaps the events brought them closer together than any of them realized.

They all seemed to want nothing more than to forget about what happened, but Belch couldn’t. Every time he closed his eyes he saw that terrible toothy grin. He wasn’t sure what had happened at the house on Neibolt street, but when he saw one of Ben’s friends around town, they all had nearly identical blank expressions. Whatever happened, it changed them.

Belch tried to push those thoughts from his mind as he washed the grease from his hands. He had been working since nine that morning and it was now nearing one in the afternoon. It was finally time for lunch.

“Reg?” A voice stopped him as he walked into the lobby.

“Ben?” He looked at the young boy, who was sitting in one of the lobby chairs holding a book. “What are you doing here?”

“My mom’s car was making questionable noises,” He explained, adding air quotes over ‘questionable noises’. “Do you work here?” Belch couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride when he heard the impressed tone of Ben’s voice.

“Yeah, my mom owns the place, so I’m helping her out.” Belch sat down in a chair next to Ben. “I’m surprised you’d want to hang out here. I’d think you’d rather be out with your band of merry misfits.”

Ben looked away, his discomfort was easy to see. “We don’t actually hang out much anymore. Not since...” Ben trailed off.

“Not since Neibolt,” Belched finished for him. “How did that go?”

“It did not go well,” Ben sighed, “we hurt It, but not enough. It hurt us worse.”

“Yeah, I saw Eddie was in a cast.”

Ben looked around to make sure no one else was looking at them, then he lifted his shirt up. Across his stomach were three long rows of stitches. 

“The doctor said I was lucky,” Ben said putting his shirt down, “any deeper and I would’ve been leaking internal organs. You guys were right. We shouldn’t have gone to that house.” Ben stared at this shoes sadly.

Belch placed a comforting hand on Ben’s shoulder. “One day I hope to be as brave as you are Ben Hanscom.”

Ben gave him a look of disbelief.

“I’m serious! You don’t let your fears control you. Even if something scares you, you do it anyway. You are the most badass person I know.”

Ben found that hard to believe. He never did anything too incredible, he just did what he felt was right. “What are you afraid of doing?” He asked.

Belch hesitated. This wasn’t something he had told anyone before, but if he could trust anyone with this secret, it was Ben.

“I’ve wanted to try out for the football team since middle school,” He admitted. “I haven’t because I don’t want people to laugh at me.”

“Why would they laugh at you?” Belch was easily one of the biggest guys in school. Ben didn’t know too much about sports, but it would seem like the coach would jump at the chance for Belch to be on the team.

“I’m not exactly the jock type.” He drove too fast and played his music too loud. He wasn’t about to change that. “At the same time, playing football would make me jock enough for Henry and the guys to give me shit.”

“No offense, but I’m pretty sure they’d give you shit whether you played football or not,” Ben said, making Belch chuckle.

He had a point, but Belch still couldn’t shake his worry. “I don’t want them to leave me,” He said, voicing his biggest insecurity. Belch would never forget how lonely he felt before Henry had decided they were friends. He didn’t want to deviate from the group if it meant he’d have to leave the group completely. 

“I don’t know you all very well, but from what I’ve seen, I don’t think that would happen. I think Henry cares more than he lets on.” Ben hadn’t noticed it during the school year, but he remembered that day in the garage and Henry’s determination to protect his friends.

Belch smiled at him, “Yeah, you know, you might be right.”

“For what it’s worth, I think you’d be great at football. I know that trying out for the team might be scary, but when it comes down to it, you’ll know what to do.” Just then, Ben’s mom entered the room.

Belch stood up as she approached. “I better head off to lunch. Stay cool Ben.”

“You too Reg.”

As Belch walked away he could hear Ben’s mom asking who he was. He couldn’t hear Ben’s response, he was too busy focusing on the other words Ben had said to him.

When it comes down to it, you’ll know what to do.

Ben was right. Blech had known all along.

\----

Contrary to what other people in town thought, Vic had friends outside of his usual group. With everything that had happened, he hadn’t had a chance to hangout with them, since the school year ended. So when Peter called and asked Vic if he wanted to see a movie, he readily agreed. 

Peter and Steve were no where near as loud and destructive as Vic’s usual crowd and while it was obvious who he prefered to spend time with, he really enjoyed spending time with both of them. 

Steve had spent most of lunch talking about how fries tasted best when dipped into your frosty. Vic had begrudgingly tried the combination and found it to actually be pretty good. Peter, of course, talked over the previews. He told them about which movies he planned to take his girlfriend too and about how they were approaching their one year anniversary. Vic couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy. Peter could talk about his relationship so openly. Vic was a relatively private person, but there were times where he wished he and Henry didn’t have to keep everything hidden. It was easier now that Patrick and Belch knew. They didn’t seem to mind that he and Henry were together. It helped Vic relax, knowing that now he didn’t have to worry about standing too close to Henry, lest the others become suspicious. However in public, he knew they were still playing a dangerous game. 

Derry was by no means an accepting town. There was an entire bridge full of homophobic slurs, it made Vic feel sick every time he walked past it. Then there was Henry’s father. They would be stupid not to fear his wrath. If he found out, he would kill Henry, probably Vic too while he was at it. Their relationship had a good reason to remain a secret. Still part of Vic wished he lived in a time and place where he could feel free to talk about his relationship with his friends like Peter was. 

When the movie was over, Vic said his goodbyes and slipped into the alleyway for a smoke.

“Jesus fuck,” he heard someone sigh as he lit up his cigarette. Vic looked over at the entrance to the alley and saw Richie Tozier. He was using his shirt to clean off his glasses. Vic frowned when he saw the yellowing bruise on Richie’s cheekbone.

“Oh, it’s you,” Richie said when he put his glasses back on.

“No it’s not.” Vic said casually, taking another drag of his cigarette. 

Richie rolled his eyes. “You know sarcasm is the lowest form of comedy.” Richie leaned back against the wall beside Vic.

“You’re just saying that cause you’re too dumb to understand it.”

Richie grinned. He never minded a joke at his own expense. 

He eyed Vic’s cigarette, “shit man, can I bum one of those?” He asked.

“You know, they say these things’ll kill you,” Vic said, but he pulled out his pack and handed one to Richie anyway.

“They also say masturbating will make you go blind, but I can still see,” Richie paused, “well, mostly.”

Vic covered his mouth with his hand to muffle his laugh. Richie seemed pleased to get a reaction of the older kid. Vic reached into his pocket to pull out a lighter, but Richie pulled out his own before he could.

“You’re parents aren’t going to behead you if you come home smelling like smoke, will they?” Vic asked. Vic parents never cared, but Reg had implemented a firm No Smoking in the Car rule after his mom grounded him for smelling of smoke, even though Reg hadn’t been the one smoking.

“I doubt it. I haven’t talked to either of them in, wait what’s today? Thursday? In like, five days. They’re never around to care what I smell like.” Richie was trying to keep his voice light, as if it didn’t bother him, but Vic wasn’t fooled. He knew that feeling all too well.

“I know how that goes,” Vic admitted. “I feel like my dad always has some sort of conference to be at.”

“Fucking conferences,” Richie groaned. “You know my dad was supposed to be at some dentist conference in San Diego last week, fucking San Diego, and I saw his car at a Motel 6 on the other side of town. I know it was his car because there’s a dent in the bumper from that time I decided to take up golfing.” Richie took a frustrated drag of his cigarette. “He wants to spend all his money on hookers and can’t even be bothered to drive to another town to do it. If my mom ever catches him she’s going to go full Psycho shower scene on his ass.”

“At least your mom cares. My dad could bring another woman home and say it was his cousin and my mom would pretend to believe him. She’d probably offer to make her a roast or something.” Vic rolled his eyes and Richie gave him an empathetic look. “I know she knows, but it’s like she thinks if she doesn’t acknowledge it then everything is fine.”

“My mom cares too much, so she drinks until she doesn’t.” Richie looked away as he said this. Alcoholics weren’t uncommon in small towns, but Richie couldn’t fight the shame he felt when he talked about it. 

“I’m pretty sure my mom is having an affair. I don’t think she’s sleeping around. I think it’s just one guy a few towns over.” It felt weird to say it out loud. He hadn’t even told Henry about his suspicions. “She disappears whenever my dad leaves and then shows up before he gets back so we can all pretend to be some happy family. It’s bullshit.”

“It’s better when my dad’s not home. When he is they’re always screaming.” Richie closed his eyes and for a moment Vic was worried he was going to cry. Vic didn’t talk about his problems at home very often, not even wit his friends. Compared to what Henry had to go through, Vic didn’t think he should complain. This conversation seemed new to Richie too. If Vic had to guess he would say Richie didn’t seriously talk about stuff like this with his friends either.

Vic stared at the bruise on the other’s face and wondered just how bad things were when Richie’s father was home. Richie seemed to notice what Vic was staring at.

“Oh, my parents didn’t give me this,” he said touching the bruise lightly, “Bill did.”

“Wait, Stuttering Bill?” Vic asked, eyes wide in surprise.

“The very same.” Richie finished up his cigarette and crushed with with his foot. “Neibolt was a shit show.”

“I can imagine,” Vic said.

“No,” Richie shook his head, “you really can’t.”

Vic looked at him, encouraging him to continue.

“I saw things there that no one should see,” Richie explained with a shutter. “It split us up, tried to pick us off one by one. It almost succeeded. Eddie got hurt and Bill was too focused on catching that stupid clown to help get him out of there. Bowers was right. Bill nearly got us all killed.”

“I’m guessing he didn’t like you agreeing with Henry.” Vic motioned to the bruise.

“He didn’t like me telling him that Georgie was dead.” Richie shoved his hands in his pockets. “Anyway, Eddie’s mom freaked out when he showed up with a broken arm. None of us are allowed to so much as even look at him anymore. I miss him.” He said that last sentence so quiet that Vic almost missed it. Almost.

He raised an eyebrow teasingly at Richie, who blushed.

“I mean, I miss all of those guys. Not Bill obviously, fuck Bill, but I don’t really talk to the others. Well, Stan sometimes, but he’s been so busy with this Bar Mitzva shit and I don’t want to get in the way.”

Vic sighed. Tragedy brought people together, but it also tore them apart. Richie was lonely. It didn’t take a genius to see that.

“You hungry?” Vic asked, pushing himself off the wall and turning to face Richie.

“Um,” Richie seemed a bit taken back by the sudden question, “no?” Then, as if Richie’s body new nothing but comedic timing, his stomach growled. “Okay, maybe a little.”

“Have you ever dipped your french fries into a Wendy’s frosty?” Vic asked.

“What? No. Why would I do that?” Richie made a face.

Vic threw an arm around Richie’s shoulders. “Come with me kid. I’m about to change your life.”

\----

It was hot in Derry. This, of course, was not surprising because it was summer. That time of year tended to get hot. Patrick, however, had an aesthetic to maintain, which meant no matter how hot it was, he was not going to wear shorts.

Patrick wanted to go swimming, but public pools were overly crowded and the quarry wasn’t nearly as fun if you were by yourself. Afterall, was anything really fun if Vic wasn’t giving you judgemental looks from underneath a large umbrella?

Patrick doubted that Vic wanted to be anywhere near a large body of water. Ever since his run in with the not so friendly neighborhood clown, he’s showered exclusively with the door open. He wasn’t the only one feeling the effects. Belch flinched when any sort of flying insect got within ten feet of him. Patrick went out of his way to avoid storm drains and any other obvious entrances to the sewer, and Henry...

Well, Patrick still didn’t know what Henry saw, but he would never forget the way Henry’s voice sounded over the phone the night he had seen It.

Patrick was so lost in thought he didn’t realize someone was in his path until they collided. It wasn’t a problem he usually had. Normally, people saw him coming and moved out of his way.

His hand shot out reflexively and grabbed the can of Pepsi the other person had dropped before it could hit the ground. He was a bit surprised that he hadn’t knocked the other over when he noticed that Eddie Kaspbrak was standing in front of him.

“Oh hey there Weezy,” Patrick smirked at the way Eddie’s cheeks flushed with anger.

“Hello Patrick,” Eddie greeted stiffly.

“I believe this is yours.” He held out the soda. He had briefly entertained the thought of taking a sip. He knew Eddie was not fond of germs and the idea of drinking Patrick’s backwash would likely make him gag. However, Patrick was firmly on the Coke side of the Coke vs Pepsi debate, so the other’s drink was safe.

“Thanks,” Eddie mumbled, taking the soda back. “I should get going. My mom is waiting for me.” He pushed past Patrick and began to hurry off.

“My schedule is clear,” Patrick said with a shrug, “I’ll walk with you.”

The look on Eddie’s face made it clear that he was not happy with the idea of him tagging along, but Patrick really didn’t care. He was bored and Eddie was entertaining.

“So how did you break your arm?” He asked, after a minute or so of them walking in silence. “Your late night jack off session got a bit too wild?”

“Broke it fisting your mom actually.” The awful joke spilled out of Eddie’s mouth before his brain could stop it and his blood immediately went cold. At that moment, two thoughts simultaneously went through his mind. The first was that Richie would’ve been proud of him. The second was that he hoped they wouldn’t play bagpipes at his funeral. He braced himself for a punch, but it never came. Instead, Patrick started laughing.

“Damn, you’ve got quite the mouth on you. No wonder Tozier’s always staring at it.” Patrick said through his giggles.

Eddie blushed. “Riche doesn’t stare at my mouth.”

“Oh, my dear, he most certainly does. It’s hard to miss since he had those magnifying glasses on his face.”

“Fuck off, Patrick,” Eddie hissed. He walked faster, but Patrick’s legs were longer and he caught up easily.

“That doesn’t work when Henry says it, you think it’ll work for you?” He chuckled. “Where is your little boy band anyway?”

Eddie drew his mouth back in a thin line. “I’m not allowed to see them anymore.” Eddie wasn’t sure why he told Patrick that. It wasn’t any of his business. Maybe it was because, even though he didn’t like Patrick, they were on some sort of common ground.

“Not allowed?” Patrick questioned.

“My mom is...overprotective. I haven’t been allowed to see any of them since Neibolt.”

Patrick stayed silent for a moment. He was trying to decided whether or not he wanted to discuss Neibolt. He looked at Eddie. He didn’t look like he wanted to talk about this anymore than Patrick did. The difference was Patrick could live the rest of his life and never know what happened at Neibolt. Eddie didn’t have that luxury.

“Is that where you hurt your arm?” Patrick asked, treading carefully. 

“Yeah, I...I fell through the floor.” He could hear Eddie’s breath grow shallower as he recalled what happened to him.

“Did you win?” Patrick hadn’t heard of anymore kids going missing since that day. Maybe they had actually done it.

“We hurt It, but It’s still alive,” Eddie said with a blank expression.

“If it can be hurt, it can be killed,” Patrick said, reassuring himself more than Eddie. It was a mantra he had been repeating to himself since that time in the sewer. He had hurt It then and he had survived. It wasn’t a lot, but there was some comfort in knowing It wasn’t indestructible.

“Are you volunteering then?” Eddie snapped at him. “Because I’m not going back to that house. That thing was seconds away from eating me. It was drooling at the thought. I almost fucking died.” If Eddie was taller his face would be in Patrick’s right now.

“Woah, calm down,” Patrick said awkwardly. He was not equipped to handle this kid’s freak out.He was glad they were in a relatively quiet residential neighborhood and not in the middle of town. Anyone who overheard this conversation would think Eddie needed professional help.

Eddie was hyperventilating now and Patrick was all but frozen. “Hold this.” He pushed the soda into Patrick’s hands. His good hand now free, Eddie unzipped his fanny pack and pulled out his inhaler.

“It has more teeth than you would think.” Eddie told him after he could catch his breath and Patrick shuttered at the thought.

It didn’t take them long to reach Eddie’s house after that. There was a woman standing on the porch when they arrived. Patrick could tell by the way Eddie tensed that she was his overbearing mother.

“There you are Eddie. You were supposed to be home by 5:15. I was so worried!” He cried. Eddie glanced at his watch. It was 5:17. “And who is this?” She asked, eyeing Patrick.

Patrick put on his best fake smile. “Patrick Hockstetter ma’am.” He extended a hand. “You must be Eddie’s older sister.”

Sonia blushed as she shook Patrick’s hand. “I’m his mother actually.”

“What? You’ve got to be joking. You look far too young to be a mother,” Patrick charmed.

She giggled slightly, preening at the attention. “Eddie Bear, I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned this friend.”

“He’s not my friend,” Eddie said with a frown.

“I’m more of a mentor really. I’m a couple years older, so I watch out for Eddie. You know, keep an eye on him, make sure he’s doing alright.” 

Eddie could not believe the lies coming out of Patrick’s mouth. More so, he couldn’t believe his mom was buying them.

“Anyway, I saw Eddie was walking by himself and I wanted to make sure he got home safely. You can never be too careful,” Patrick said with a serious face.

“I couldn’t agree more. It was so sweet of you to go out of your way to watch out for Eddie. I’m sure you know how delicate he is,” Sonia gushed.

Delicate? Patrick was sure Eddie Kaspbrak was as delicate as a scorpion. Sure he was small in size but piss him off and you were sure to get stung.

“Oh it was no trouble. I only live a few blocks from here,” Patrick told her truthfully. Eddie’s eyes widened slightly. How could he not have known that he lived so close to one of his biggest bullies. 

“Well I still appreciate it. Would you like to stay for dinner?” She asked.

Eddie looked at her in surprise. On one hand, nightly dinners with his mom have become so awkward they were nearly unbearable. On the other hand, this was Patrick and he was sure to make things worse. Eddie looked at him and shook his head, hoping he’d get the hint and say no.

Patrick was never good at doing what he was told. “I’d love to,” he said with a grin.

\---

It was late when Henry left the convenience store. He wasn’t sure of the exact time, but it was dark which meant it was well past curfew. Henry could not have given less fucks about the curfew. If there was one thing he was good at it was avoiding police. Besides, he understood the real reason for the curfew. So did Beverly Marsh, which is why he wasn’t too concerned to see her sitting on a park bench.

She hadn’t seen him. He could slip by her and she would never even know he was there. He recognized the look on her face though. It was one he’d seen in the mirror many times before. It was one that said she was prepared to sleep on that bench if it meant she didn’t have to go home.

Henry had heard rumors about her father. It was impossible not to in a town like Derry. There was talk of Alvin Marsh’s wandering hands. He had been banned from two different bars in Derry for harassing the women behind the bar. He had been in jail half a dozen times since his wife died. Henry didn’t need any talk to confirm what he already knew. Alvin Marsh was a shitty person and an even shittier father.

He had never left a mark on Beverly, not that Henry could see, but there were things that he noticed. Like the way she shyed away when people stood too close, or how loud noises like the slamming of a locker door would put her on edge. He never talked to her about it. That would mean acknowledging his own fucked up household and he wasn’t strong enough to do that.

Still things had changed since the summer had started. So Henry walked over and sat himself down beside her.

“Bowers,” She greeted curtly and Henry could feel the air grow tense between them.

“Marsh,” He replied.

“You’re out late,” Beverly stated.

“Just buying dinner.” Beverly looked at the bag in Henry’s hands. Inside was a bag of mini powdered donuts, a can of pringles, and a bottle of Orange Crush.

“That trash is your dinner?” She raised an eyebrow and gave him an amused look.

“Well, I was going to offer to share my donuts, but if you’re gonna mock my dinner...” He trailed off teasingly.

“Oh no, those donuts are your payment.” She told him.

“Payment? For what?”

“The pleasure of my company.” It was a joke, but Henry could hear the twinge of bitterness in her voice. It was a reminder of what he had said about her. A warning not to get too comfortable.

He opened the bag of donuts and sat it between them. “You know, I didn’t start those rumors about you.” He felt like he needed her to know this. “Other people were already saying shit. I just, added fuel to the fire, I guess.”

“So?” She asked.

“What do you mean so?”

“I mean, so do you think that matters?”

Henry frowned. He had, actually. Bev must’ve read his mind because she rolled her eyes.

“It doesn’t. Just because you weren’t the first one doesn’t make you any less guilty.” She shoved a donut in her mouth. “You know it’s all bullshit, right?” She asked when she swallowed.

“Yeah.” Of course he know that.

“So why say shit? You couldn’t have the school thinking that Henry Bowers was a virgin?”

Henry bit his lip and he thought about Vic. He was borderline euphoric when Vic agreed to be his boyfriend. That feeling had all too quickly faded into fear. Fear that somehow everyone would know. Henry hadn’t done it to target Beverly, but it was all too easy. No one would think Henry was gay if he was sleeping with a girl. So, he had mentioned the fake experience in the locker room and let the school rumor mill take it from there. His secret was safe.

“Yeah, something like that.” He mumbled in response.

“You’re an asshole Bowers.”

“I’ve been called worse.” Another time in another place, her words would’ve made Henry angry. Henry was tired of being angry. He was tired of being scared. He was just tired. Beverly must’ve felt the same way. They were kids, not soldiers, and yet they were fighting a war. Not just one for the safety of Derry, but also in their own homes.

Bev offered him a small smile. She didn’t forgive him. He hadn’t earned that, but she could tell he was changing. During the school year, he had gotten progressively more violent, but that seemed to stop. He might actually be starting to change for the better.

“I guess I need to step up my insult game then,” she teased.

“I’m sure Trashmouth could give you a few pointers. He can get awfully creative with his adjectives,” Henry joked.

“Yeah, I don’t think he wants to talk to me anymore.” She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.”

“What happened?” 

“We had a falling out after Neibolt. We were all scared, Eddie and Ben got hurt, and Richie blamed Bill for all of it. Everyone else agreed,” She explained.

“But not you?” He asked her.

Beverly sighed, “I don’t blame Bill for wanting It dead. Hell, I want It dead, but...I don’t know. I understand that It might have his little brother, but it was like he didn’t care what happened to himself or anyone else.” Beverly stared across the street, her eyes fixed on the gutter. “We split up, I think that was our problem. Not all of us went into the house. I think if we faced It together we could beat it.”

“But how do you know?” Henry asked. It was an interesting theory, but this wasn’t something easily tested.

“When we were all together we managed to hurt It.” She said.

“You hurt It?” Henry asked, impressed.

“I stabbed it through the fucking eye,” Beverly told him with a smile. Henry let out an impressed whistle. “I think if we were all together we could beat It for good. Bill wants to go back. I don’t know when yet, but I’ve got to convince the others to come back.” She looked Henry in the eye and he knew what she was going to ask before she said anything. “Will you guys help?”

Henry wanted to say no, but he hesitated. The rest of the gang hadn’t talked about It since Vic almost died, but he knew they hadn’t stopped thinking about it. He had shamed Bill for wanting his friends to follow him into a dangerous situation, but Henry hadn’t given his friends much of a choice either. All he wanted was to keep his friends safe, but he couldn’t make their decisions for them.

He looked at Beverly, who was still waiting for his answer. “I will. The guys, well, I guess we’ll see when it comes down to it, but it’ll be their choice.”

That seemed to be enough for her. Henry stood up. “I’m going to go hang out at Patrick’s house, wanna tag along?” He knew Beverly was tough, but he wasn’t about to let her sleep in the park.

She stood up as well. “I should get home,” she said kind of hesitantly. “My dad should be passed out in front of the TV by now. I’ll be in trouble if I’m not home when he wakes up.”

Henry nodded understanding. He wanted to offer to walk her home, but he knew there was no need. He still had a bruise on his collarbone reminding him of how dangerous she could be. He waved goodbye and walked the rest of the way to Patrick’s house.

He didn’t knock, he just pushed opened the garage door and went inside.

“Took you long enough Henry,” Patrick said as he entered. “Get lost or something?”

“Nah, I ran into Beverly on my way here.” Henry told him. He sat down next to Vic on the couch and the other reached out to take his hand. It was still liberating to be able to do this, despite their small audience. It was a bit embarrassing how something simple like Vic holding his hand could make him feel like his whole body was humming.

The group traded looks.

“She tell you what happened at Neibolt?” Belch asked.

“Bits and pieces,” Henry admitted. “She said that Bill’s gonna want to go back.”

“I’m not surprised,” Vic said. “Did you know he punched Richie in the face? I ran into him the other day and he told me all about it. I think Bill’s losing it.”

“Ben was at the garage a while back, you should’ve seen the marks It left on his stomach. I mean, what were they thinking? They’re just a bunch of kids.” 

“Yeah, Eddie was nearly turned into a snack,” Patrick added. 

“Bev thinks, if we’re all together we could defeat It. Together they hurt It. Maybe...maybe if we were there too, we could kill that son of a bitch.” Henry said.

“Yeah, or we could get killed ourselves,” Patrick said, taking a drink of his beer. “You keep going back and forth. First you want to investigate, then you want to leave it alone, then you want to talk with the losers, then we should never speak of It again, and now you want to kill It?” 

Henry stared down at his lap. Patrick had a point. “The only thing I want is to keep you guys safe,” Henry admitted.

“Henry,” Belch said hesitantly, “what was It to you?”

Vic squeezed Henry’s hand to offer encouragement. “I saw my mom.”

“Your mom?” Patrick questioned.

“It was more than that. It was how she looked when she died.” Henry told them. “It told me that I couldn’t protect you, that I couldn’t keep you safe. If you died, it would be my fault, just like her death was.” Just talking about it made Henry feel sick. 

“Oh Henry.” Vic covered his mouth with his free hand. Henry rarely talked about his mother. They all know what happened. It had taken one particularly heavy night of drinking for Henry to spill that story.

“I couldn’t do anything to save her, just like I couldn’t do anything to save you in the garage.” Henry looked at Vic. Henry’s eyes were beginning to burn, but he held his tears back.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re pretty badass,” Patrick said, nudging Henry’s foot with his own.

“You don’t have to protect us all on your own. We look out for each other.” Belch smiled at Henry, who gave him a small smile back.

“If anything happened to you guys, I’d never forgive myself,” Henry said.

“We’re all in this together Henry. If we go down, we’re dragging you down with us,” Vic joked.

Belch put a hand on Henry’s shoulder. “What should we do Henry?”

Henry looked at each of his friends. He was the leader, they looked to him to make these decisions, but it wasn’t his alone to make. “What do you want to do?”

“I want to help.” Belch was the first to speak up. Henry wasn’t surprised. He knew Belch had wanted to go with the Losers in the first place. He wanted to keep them safe.

“They are just kids. We should be there to keep an eye on them.” Vic agreed. The thought of Vic getting anywhere near It made Henry’s stomach twist into knots, but Vic wouldn’t be alone. There would be people watching his back.

“I’m tired of being afraid of this thing. My vote is for kicking It’s ass!” Patrick raised his drink.

Henry grabbed a beer off the floor and raised it as well. Vic and Belch copied his action. “Then it’s settled. The Clown Bitch is going down.” They clinked their bottles. A toast to seal their pact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friend skepticallysighing on tumblr wanted more Richie and Vic interaction, and well I can't say no to him. Well, I mean that and I've had this chapter planned since September so it was coming anyway.
> 
> Thank you guys for reading my longest chapter yet! As of right now I'm still planning on uploading on Thursday this week. I'm sorry if that is inconvenient for those of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving with your families. Good news is that it'll still be here afterwards!
> 
> As usual, hit me up on tumblr at http://everythingisnightvale.tumblr.com
> 
> (Also if you started singing high school musical there at the end let me know)


	12. Paper Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry and the gang get some unfortunate visitors during target practice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional Chapter Warning: This chapter contains Child Abuse as seen in the movie.

They were playing a dangerous game. They didn’t have many options, Henry was the only one with access to real weapons. The four of them were in Henry’s yard taking turns aiming his dad’s gun at old whiskey bottles. Vic was the best by far. He had a natural sense of aim that was almost unsettling. Belch had yet to hit a single bottle. The idea alone of holding a gun made his hands shake. Patrick and Henry were both steadily improving the more they shot.

“You’re supposed to keep both eyes open when you aim,” Patrick said as Henry lined up his shot. “The whole reason you have two eyes is so you’ll have depth perception.” 

“Depth perception? What are you, some kind of octometrist?” Henry rolled his eyes.

“I think the word you’re looking for is optometrist,” Vic said from his spot in the lawn chair.

“Yeah, I think an octometrist is an octopus doctor,” Patrick added.

“No, I think that’s just called a marine biologist,” Belch said.

“Well I think you all shout shut up.” He fired the gun, shattering the bottle. “See, only one eye needed,” he said smugly.

“Nice one Henry!” Belch beamed.

“I think we found our next target,” Patrick smirked and eyed a bear by cat. It was one of the few stray farm cats that hung around the property. Henry’s father tolerated them because they kept the house mouse free. Blech had affectionately named this particular cat, Meatball.

Belch scooped Meatball up into his arms. “Like hell you have,” he glared at Patrick.

“Come on Belch, just hold it still,” Henry had a smile on his face, so Belch knew he was joking as he aimed at the empty space the cat could be placed. He hugged the cat closer to his chest. 

No one noticed Henry’s dad approaching until his voice rang out, more terrifying than the sound of any gun shot. “What the hell’s going on here.”

Henry lowered the gun. His father was home far earlier than he was supposed to be. He knew when he told his friends they could come over he was pressing his luck, but this was the worst case scenario.

Vic scrambled to get out of the lawn chair as Henry’s dad walked towards them. He wanted to put as much distance between him and Butch as possible. He wanted Henry to do the same, but he remained rooted in place. The other three could do nothing but stand next to each other and watch.

“Just cleaning your gun, like you asked,” Henry lied. He knew his father knew that was a lie, but part of him hoped he’d pretend to believe it for the time being. After all, they had an audience. There was a chance he would have his beating for later.

“You’re cleaning my gun, huh?” He stepped closer to Henry, who was facing him now. Henry kept his head down. He was already trying to make himself smaller.

“Dad,” Henry pleaded. He didn’t want to do this here, not in front of his friends. There was no guarantee Butch wouldn’t take his anger out on them too.

Butch screamed in his son’s face, making everyone flinch. 

“Hey!” Patrick screamed back, his face flushed with anger. Belch slapped a hand over Patrick’s mouth before he could make the situation worse.

“It’s okay Patrick,” Henry said, trying to calm him down before his father decided to direct his anger at him instead.

Butch scoffed, “you think you’re some kind of gang leader?” He eyed Henry’s friends with disgust. “You’re pathetic, and they’re a bunch of dumbasses for following you.”

Henry didn’t say anything. He just stood there as his dad turned back towards the house and began to walk away. He stopped after a few paces and turned back towards Henry. He aimed his gun at the ground a few feet away and fired three times.

Henry couldn’t breath. He just curled into himself, as if he could shield himself if his father were to aim the gun at him instead. This wasn’t the first time his father had fired the gun around Henry, but this was the first time he had done it so close. Up until now, Henry believed that it was just some scare tactic to make him behave. He never thought his father would actually want to kill him, but now he wasn’t so sure. He’s not sure what made his dad angry enough to kill his mother. He had always been so careful to not anger his father, but that didn’t do him any good. These days, breathing too loudly could set his father off. He wasn’t safe at home anymore, but he couldn’t leave. He was trapped.

“Look at him now boys,” Butch said as Henry stood there trembling. “Ain’t nothing like a little fear to make a paper man crumble.” Then, finally, he walked back into the house.

Henry was overwhelmed with fear and shame. He couldn’t make himself move. Behind him, he could hear Patrick’s voice, still muffled by Belch’s hand. He was no doubt trying to tell Butch exactly what he wanted to do to him.

Vic was shaking, he wanted nothing more than to take Henry into his arms and tell him that everything was going to be alright, but everything wasn’t going to be alright. He wiped the tears from his eyes, “Henry?”

Vic’s voice seemed to give Henry the will to move. He rubbed his own tears off his cheeks and walked past his friends. “Give me a minute,” Henry all but begged as he past them. He didn’t want them to see him like this. More than anything, he knew he had to keep Vic out of reach. He was beginning to get used to seeking comfort from Vic. It made Henry feel better knowing there was someone out there who wanted him around. He couldn’t hold Vic now, not with his father so close. Henry sat down on the ground and leaned against the front of the Trans Am.

“I’m gonna throw that asshole into the sewer and let It take care of him,” Patrick threatened.

“Calm down Patrick,” Belch said, he sounded exhausted. There were too many emotions going through his head. Like Patrick, Belch was angry, but he was also scared and worried. Most of all he felt helpless. All he could do was try and calm Patrick down. His ranting would do nothing to help Henry.

“We can’t let him keep doing this,” Patrick said to the others. “We have to do something.”

Vic sighed, he was as desperate to save Henry as Patrick was, maybe even more so. “Our hands are tied, Pat. Until Henry wants us to do something about it, we have to back off.”

“Vic’s right,” Belch added, when he saw that Patrick was not about to accept that answer. “If we tell someone and things don’t go as planned, it’ll be very bad for Henry.”

Patrick knew this was true. They couldn’t exactly go to the police, Henry’s dad was a cop. Not to mention Henry had a reputation for causing fights, which would easily explain the bruises. As much as they wanted to do something, no one would believe them. 

“He’s not staying here tonight,” Patrick said firmly. “I don’t care if I have to fucking kidnap him, he’s not staying here.”

“He can stay at my place, you all can,” Belch offered. “After today, I don’t think I’d be getting much sleep anyway.”

They looked over at Henry, who was still leaning against the car. They walked towards him, careful not to get too close. 

“You okay Henry?” Vic asked, wishing Henry would tell them to get in the car so they could get far away from here, but he remained silent.

Henry was staring straight ahead down the driveway. There was a single red balloon floating from the mailbox like a calling card. It didn’t have his name on it, but Henry knew it was for him. He ignored the warning bells in his head and walked down the driveway. He had spent so long being afraid of It. He should’ve known he had no reason to be. It could make him stronger. He wouldn’t need to be afraid of anyone anymore.

His friends were to absorbed in their hushed conversation to notice him walking away. That way for the best. They wouldn’t understand. They would only get in his way.

“We should get out of here, Henry,” Patrick said, looking over to the spot where his friend had been sitting, but it was empty. “Henry?”

“Oh shit,” Belch pointed to the end of the driveway. Henry was walking right towards a red balloon.

Vic was running to him before anyone really had a chance to process what was happening. It didn’t matter, red balloons were bad news. By the time Vic reached Henry the balloon was floating up into the sky. Henry stood there with his back to Vic, staring at something in his hand.

“Henry?” Vic reached out and touched Henry’s shoulder. He turned around so fast that Vic nearly lost his footing. He hissed in pain and grabbed his shoulder. Henry was holding a knife. It was the same knife he had lost the day Patrick was attacked. His eyes looked wild as he stared at Vic, silently daring him to come closer. He had only seen Henry look this way once before. It was went he had tried to carve his name into Ben’s stomach. Vic pulled his hand back. Sure enough, his shoulder was bleeding. It wasn’t a deep cut, he wouldn’t need more than a bandaid, but it hurt.

Henry’s eyes were fixed on Vic, so he didn’t realize Patrick was there until he punched Henry across the face.

“Patrick!” Belch called out in surprise.

“No,” Patrick glared at Henry. “I don’t care what his dad does to him, he will not take it out on us.”

“I’m fine Patrick, really.” Vic insisted. “It was an accident. Henry didn’t mean-” Henry lunged at Patrick, knife held out in front of him, but Patrick was ready. He grabbed Henry’s wrist and used his free hand to punch Henry again. Henry stumbled back again.

Before he had a chance to go after Patrick again, Belch wrapped his arms around Henry’s middle, pinning his arms to his body. Belch squeezed and Henry grunted as he dropped the knife. He was squirming, trying to break free of Belch’s hold, but it was pointless. Belch was bigger and stronger than Henry. He wasn’t going anywhere.

Henry’s struggling didn’t stop until he looked into Vic’s eyes. The look of fear in his brown eyes hurt him more than Patrick’s punch. He couldn’t look at them any more. He hung his head in shame and just stood there trapped in Belch’s arms. “I’m...I’m sorry. I don’t know...” They could see tears hit the ground below Henry.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Patrick picked up Henry’s knife and threw it a few years away before he turned and walked back up the driveway to the car.

“I’m so sorry Vic,” Henry’s voice sounded broken. Belch slowly released Henry and as soon as his arms were free he reached out and touched Vic’s shoulder.

“It’s okay Henry. I know you didn’t mean it,” Vic said. He covered Henry’s hand with his and squeezed it.

“It’s like I wasn’t in control. My body was moving, but all I could do was watch,” Henry shuttered at the memory.

“Has this happened before?” Belch asked. Henry nodded. “That day with Ben?” Belch continued, and once again Henry nodded. Belch cursed under his breath. This wasn’t good. If It could really take control of their minds, then It was going to be even harder to defeat.

“What snapped you out of it?” Vic asked.

“You did,” Henry told him. “Both times you look like you were scared of me.”

“I was, you weren’t acting like yourself.”

“I hated it. I didn’t want to scare you. It just helped me snap out of it I guess,” Henry didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t really explain what was happening to him. He hadn’t realized that the voice in his head belonged to It until now. He had just thought it was the part of his brain that had anger issues. Most of the time he could ignore it and the awful things it suggested he should do, but sometimes he didn’t want to.

Vic was wrong, it was his fault. He was willingly letting It in and letting It take control. For what? So he could feel stronger? If anything this proved he was just as weak as his father said. Henry was determined not to let it happen again. He wasn’t sure what would’ve happened to Vic and Belch if Patrick hadn’t been there.

“Took you guys long enough,” Patrick said as they climbed into the car.

“Patrick-” Henry started.

“Unless the next words out of your mouth are ‘I’m sorry for being a dick. Thanks for punching me in the face’ than I don’t want to hear them,” he crossed his arms and pressed his feet into the back of Henry’s seat, which he knew the other hated.

Henry sigh, “I’m sorry for being a dick and thank you for punching me in the face. I needed it.”

Patrick refused to look at Henry for a few moments, but then he grinned. “Yes, you did. You’re welcome.”

“Where to boys?” Belch asked as he started the car.

“Somewhere loud and distracting,” Patrick said.

“The arcade?” Vic suggested. Henry made a face. He hated the arcade. You couldn’t move without bumping into someone and everything was unexplainably sticky, but he didn’t have a better idea.

So, Henry found himself sitting at a table at the arcade. He watched Patrick find creative ways to cheat at skee ball while he sat there picking at his nachos. Vic had bought them for Henry when they arrived and hadn’t given him much of a choice. He was under the impression that eating would make him feel better. He picked at it, but the cheese had gone cold, so it was a lost cause. Vic was now leaning up against a game talking to Richie as he played. 

Vic hadn’t told Henry the full story of how their friendship formed. He had said that it wasn’t his story to tell, but ever since that day, Vic had met up with Richie at least once a week. Henry wasn’t jealous. Vic had plenty of friends outside of the gang, not to mention that Henry didn’t exactly consider Tozier to be a romantic rival or anything of that nature. Henry was just a bit confused. Henry had seen the losers around town a few times and he was polite, but he didn’t seek out their company. He was pretty sure they still hated him. 

Vic was distracted, so Henry took the opportunity to throw away is unwanted nachos. On the way back to his seat, Henry was very nearly run over as Bill came barreling into the arcade. 

“You okay there Denbrough?” Henry asked, but Bill didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. The fear and desperation was clear on Bill’s face. Henry didn’t know what had happened but he had a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Henry followed Bill over to where Richie and Vic were standing.

“What do you want?” Richie snapped, not looking away from his game. “You see that guy I’m hitting? I’m pretending it’s you.”

Bill looked at Henry and Vic and then back to Richie. He took a deep breath, “It got Beverly.”

“What do you mean?” Richie asked, not wanting to deal with Bill’s cryptic bullshit.

“He means It, Richie,” Vic said. Vic could feel goosebumps forming on his arms. Yes, they had agreed that if the time came, they would all help Bill fight It, but they hadn’t even considered the possibility that someone would get taken.

Richie had stopped playing the game. The sound of his character dying played at Richie stared at Bill. Richie didn’t know how to feel. Hollow, maybe? Was it possible to feel so much fear that you feel nothing?

“W-we need to call the others,” Bill said. If Beverly was right, they would need all of them to defeat It and save their friend.

“I’ll get Patrick and Belch,” Henry said, “meet us outside.”

“B-bowers wait, are y-y-you-”

“We’re not leaving you to face It on your own,” Henry told him. “We’re in this together.”

They met by a pay phone outside of the arcade and called their friends. No one sounded enthusiastic, but without hesitation they said they would be there. Before the end of the day, they would have Beverly back, or...well no one wanted to think about the other possibility.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!  
> My usual beta reader was busy so I proofread this myself, so I'm sorry if it's not as polished as normal.
> 
> Please hit me up on tumblr if you'd like to chat http://everythingisnightvale.tumblr.com Not only do I post additional content about this story, but I also take request for drabbles, headcanons, and moodboards!


	13. The House on Neibolt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 10 people arrive at Neibolt. Either Beverly was coming back out with them, or they'll float too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ADDITIONAL CHAPTER WARNINGS: This chapter contains graphic violence as well as racial and homophobic slurs

There were plenty of houses that ran along Neibolt street, but when someone said ‘the house on Neibolt’ everyone know exactly which house they were referring to. There wasn’t a single person in town who could remember that house ever looking nice. No one could recall a family ever living there before it fell to ruins. It seemed as though the house on Neibolt had always been as it was now.

To say that Henry felt tense as he stepped out of the car would’ve been an understatement. His body was primed to run at a moment's notice. He took a little comfort in knowing that he wasn’t alone in his nervousness. Belch had been tugging on a loose thread at the hem of his t-shirt. He had already unraveled half of it. Patrick bit his nails down until they were nothing but nubs. It was a nervous habit he had had since childhood. One he thought he had grown out of. Vic appeared to be calm on the outside, but Henry could see his fingers tapping out a rhythm on the side of his leg. It was something to keep track of his breathing. On the way over, Vic had bit his lip so hard that it was started to bleed. Henry wanted nothing more than to kiss it better.

It was torture. The four of them standing in front of that house in silence waiting for the others to show up on their bikes. Belch had offered to give them a ride. Ten people in the Trans Am would’ve been more than a tight fit, but they would’ve made it work. They had all declined. Henry understood why. They needed a moment with each other. Henry and the others were no longer the enemy, but they weren’t exactly best friends. They needed some time to draw strength from each other.

Surprisingly enough, it was Patrick who reached out and put a hand on Henry’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure if Patrick could sense how badly Henry needed someone there beside him, or if it was Patrick in desperate need of some comfort. Henry looked into his friend’s eyes. He was scared, of course he was, but without words he told Henry exactly what he needed to hear. They would not be dying today.

Vic grabbed his hand next. He was more afraid of what laid within the walls of that house than of what anyone would say if he saw them now. He squeezed Henry’s hand to let him know that he was here with him now and that everything would be fine.

Belch wrapped his arms around Patrick and Vic. He stood across from Henry and the four of them formed a small circle. These were the people Henry loved more than anyone else in the world and he knew without a doubt that they felt the same. He would die for them. He very well might. They stood like that for a long time and didn’t break apart until they heard the sound of bike tires rolling up the road.

They prepared themselves for the upcoming battle in relative silence. There was nothing to be said. Patrick flicked his zippo a few times. There was a full can of hairspray stashed in his back pocket.

Eddie pulled out a roll of tape from his fannypack and tossed it to Patrick, “here.” Then he removed his pack and tossed it across the yard. Henry could hear pills rattling inside as it landed a few feet away.

“What’s this for?” Patrick asked.

“It’s to tape your lighter to the hairspray. That way you’ll only have to use one hand,” Eddie explained.

“Eddie, you are a fucking genius,” Patrick’s eyes lit up as he went to work taping his lighter to the hairspray.

Vic’s hand ghosted over the slingshot strapped to his belt. Vic didn’t own much in the way of weapons. He just had an old slingshot that his grandfather had given him for Christmas back in 4th grade and a pocket full of marbles that he dug out of the attic. Belch was helping Bill pick up fence spikes off the ground. They had worked before, they’d come in handy now.

Richie pulled an old beer bottle off the ground and hit it against the stair railing. Henry flinches at the sound of it shattering.

“Smooth,” Vic rolled his eyes as Richie tossed the remainder of the bottle back to the ground.

Bill looked at everyone and nodded. They were ready. Bill lead the way into the house. They all filed into the house except Stan, who paused in the doorway.

“Stan, c-come on. We all have to go. Y-you heard Beverly. If we stick together, all of us, we can defeat it,” Bill told him. Stan didn’t look too sure about that, but he stepped over the threshold and followed his friends into the basement.

Henry wasn’t sure Neibolt could get any creepier, but as he entered the basement he found that he was very wrong. 

“Well, well, well, what do we have here,” Patrick grinned wildly at his own joke.

If looks could kill, Vic’s would have fried Patrick on the spot. Richie, on the other hand, couldn’t hold back a snort. Henry shoved Patrick lightly. He knew Patrick was just trying to make light of an incredibly heavy situation.

“How are we supposed to get down there?” Henry asked.

“There,” Mike said, pointing to a knotted rope laying beside the well.

“That’s...convenient,” Vic said. This felt more wrong by the second.

Ben helped Mike secure the rope on the hook and gave it a few tugs.

“I-I’ll go first,” Bill offered.

“No, I will,” Belch said, putting a hand on the other’s chest. “I’m the heaviest. If it supports me, it’ll definitely support all of you,” he explained.

“And if it doesn’t support you?” Richie questioned.

“It will,” Belch tried to assure all of them, but he didn’t sound too sure himself.

Henry held his breath as Belch took hold of the rope and began to lower himself into the well. After a few moments of silence, Henry began to grow nervous. “Reg?”

“I’m good. There’s an entrance to a tunnel off to the side here. I think that’ll be our best bet.” His voice echoed up the well. “You guys can start heading down.”

Bill went next, eager to get to Beverly. Then Eddie grabbed the rope. 

“You got this with one arm, Weezy?” Patrick asked, the insulting nickname sounding fonder than it ever had before.

“Worried I’ll fall?” Eddie said with a sly smile.

“Betting on it,” Patrick smiled back at him. Then Eddie lowered himself into the well. Patrick followed him, shooting a reassuring smile at Henry before he too was out of sight. Stan went down after him, then Ben, Richie, and finally Vic.

Henry and Mike reached for the rope at the same time, causing them both to pause.

“You can go,” Mike offered.

“No, you.” Henry insisted.

Thing felt awkward for a moment, then Henry felt nothing but pain as something hit him hard in the small of his back. Henry stumbled and fell to the ground. He could hear Mike grunt in pain as well. Henry tried to stand and go to him, but his body screamed in protest. 

“Well, what do we have here? The nigger and the faggot.” Henry’s blood ran cold. He turned around and stared up at his father. In one hand he had a metal pole and in the other he had something clenched in his fist, but Henry couldn’t quite make out what it was.

Past his father, Henry could see Mike laying on the ground. He was breathing, but he wasn’t making any move to stand.

“Did you think you could hide this from me? Did you think I wouldn’t find out that my own song was a fucking queer?” Butch spat out.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Henry’s dad had been calling him queer long before Henry knew what that word even meant, but this time was different. Henry didn’t know why it was, but it was.

“Do you think I’m stupid?” He screamed and threw something at Henry. Henry recognized it easily, despite the folds. IT was the photos from his date with Vic.

“Dad I can-”

“You can shut your fucking mouth!” Hery instinctively brought his arms up in front of his face, blocking the kick that would’ve hit him directly in the teeth. Henry winced and he heard his father’s heavy footsteps walking away. Henry felt relieved for a moment, before terror gripped him again. He could be going for Mike.

Down in the well, the others could hear the growing commotion.

“Henry? Mike?” Vic called as he tried to look up the well. Butch was peering back down at him, “No,” Vic gasped.

He started to pull up the rope. Vic lunged for it, but it slipped between his fingers. He fell forward and would’ve toppled down the well if Bill and Richie hadn’t caught him around the waist and pulled him back inside.

“What’s going on,” Patrick asked as he was too far back to see anything. 

“Henry’s dad is here. He’s up there with him,” Vic said. “I have to get up there.”

“Are you crazy?” Stan asked.

“Yeah, what are you going to do? Scale the wall?” Richie asked.

“You don’t understand!” Vic snapped. “His dad is dangerous. He’ll kill them. Henry and Mike are both dead if we don’t get up there.” Vic’s desperation was clear on his face.

“There’s n-nothing we can d-d-do,” Bill said frowning. He hated to say it. He wanted to help his friends, but without the rope, they weren’t getting back up there.

Meanwhile, Butch walked back over to Henry. He kicked Henry hard in the chest as he was trying to sit up and sent him crashing back to the floor.

“No son of mine is going to be a sick fa-” Butch cut himself off with a cry of pain as a brick slammed into his shoulder. He turned around. Mike stood there with another brick in his hand. Butch smiled at him. “You know boy, my biggest regret in life is not making sure you died in that fire with your good for nothing parents.”

Mike’s jaw went slack with surprise. “You mean you...,” his eyes widened with realization. 

“Not just me. There are plenty of people in town who love nothing more than watching a nigger burn.” Butch said these words with an unsettling grin on his face.

Mikes throat tightened. He had never once let himself think that the fire was anything more than a tragic accident. The police had investigated and had assured everyone that it was nothing more than faulty wiring. Of course, a police investigation didn’t matter much. Henry’s dad was a police officer. It’s no surprise his buddies on the force would help him cover up his crimes. Hell, they probably helped him.

Henry’s dad scared Mike, he always had, but Mike didn’t feel an ounce of fear now. Not even when Butch threw the pipe he had been holding to the ground and pulled the switch blade from his pocket and said, “guess I’ll have to finish what I started.” Mike didn’t even flinch when he flicked the switch and the blade swung out. He felt nothing now but rage. So hot, it was almost burning a hole through his stomach.

Henry recognized the knife in his father’s hand. It was the same one Patrick had thrown across the yard earlier that morning. Henry wasn’t sure if this meant his father was under It’s control, but he found that he really didn’t care. If anyone had asked Henry, he would tell them that this was the moment any love he had for his father died. It died the moment that he found out that he not only robbed Henry of a mother, but Mike as well. Henry didn’t care how scared he was, or how much his body ached. He was not going to let his father hurt Mike or anyone else ever again.

“Leave him alone you son of a bitch!” Henry screamed as he tackled his father to the ground. For the first time in his life, Henry hit his father. Years of pain and abuse and hatred was funneled into that punch.

“I’m going to kill you, then that nigger, and after that, I’m going after the little blond whore of yours,” Butch hissed into Henry’s face as they fought.

“Fuck you,” Butch was going to have to kill him if he wanted to get to any one else. “Mike get out of here,” Henry called to, who seemed frozen in place, watching the scene before him.

“You were always just like that slut mother of yours, weak and pathetic. I bet you’ll scream just like she did.” Henry slammed his fist into his father’s face. He could feel the satisfying crunch of his father’s nose breaking.

“Fuck you!” He screamed louder. He gasped in pain as the blade grazed his cheek.

Henry was losing the fight. He was using all his strength to keep the knife from reaching his throat. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep[ this up. He just needed to give Mike and the others time to get far into the sewers and far away from his dad.

Henry hoped they buried him next to his mom.

There was a crack as a brick collided with Butch’s head. He stood up in a daze, clutching his head. 

Mike screamed as he ran forward and pushed Butch into the well. The two listened to his scream fade as he fell. Soon the only sound in the room was heavy breathing.

“Mike?” Ben called.

“I’m okay,” he responded.

“And Henry?” That was Vic. Henry tried to catch his breath before responding, “I’m - I’m okay. We’re both fine.”

Mike held out his hand and Henry let Mike help him to his feet.

“Thank you,” Henry said.

“Don’t mention it,” Mike replied, and he really hoped Henry didn’t. Mike didn’t want to think about the racist that could be lying dead at the bottom of the well. Mike set his extra ammunition on the side of the well as he lowered the rope back down. The ammo belt slipped and was soon falling down into the blackness. Mike tried to grab it, but it was too late.

“Shit,” Henry said what Mike had been thinking.

Mike tugged on the rope. He didn’t have time to mourn the loss of his ammo. His gun was loaded now. That would have to do. They had to get to their friends.

“Hey Mike,” Henry said before the other could start climbing down the rope. “I don’t know how to apologize for all of the shit I put you through.”

“Then don’t,” Mike said.

“What?” 

“Look Henry, I can’t forgive you right now. I understand that your shitty ideas were beaten into you by your dad, but it’s still your responsibility to show that you’re not what he made you into, and I need time too,” Mike told him.

“What can I do to show you I’m not like him?” Henry asked.

“I can’t tell you. You have to figure that out on your own. All I can say is when you do, you gotta keep showing me and everyone else, that you’re a better man than you’ve been. That’s how you can apologize.”

Henry gave Mike a small smile. “I can do that.”

Mike smiled back at him. He couldn’t help but believe that those words were true. “I’ll see you down there.” Mike grabbed the rope and began to descend.

Henry walked over and grabbed the pictures of him and Vic off the ground and tucked them in his pocket. Something else cause his eye. The knife, it hadn’t fallen down the well with his father. With a shaking hand Henry reached out and took the knife. This was the knife that It wanted him to use to kill Ben and Patrick. It was the knife that It wanted his father to use to kill him. Now it was the knife Henry was going to use to kill It. He closed the blade and put that into his pocket along side the pictures. 

Henry took hold of the rope and entered the well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think.
> 
> Message me on tumblr at http://everythingisnightvale.tumblr.com


	14. Over the River and Through the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Losers Club and the Bowers Gang make their way through the sewers in search of Beverly. It turns out to be harder than they anticipated (and they anticipated it to be pretty hard).

Henry couldn’t believe the high school gym class actually helped prepare him for the real world. Climbing down the rope was a breeze s it didn’t take Henry long to reach his friends. Mike and Vic reached out and took Henry’s forearm to help in into the tunnel.

“Henry,” Vic started.

“Later,” Henry assured him. Vic had seen Henry’s father fall passed them. He could see now the bruises that were forming on Henry’s face, and the blood still trickling from his split lip. Henry couldn’t worry about that now. He couldn’t think about how his father might be dead. He had to stay focused. They all had more important things to worry about.

“Guys, where’s Stanley?” Eddie’s voice quivered as he spoke.

They all looked back at the spot Stan had been kneeling. It was empty. No one had even heard him leave. They called out for him, but the only response was the echo of their own voices.

No one knew where to begin looking for Stan, but there was only one direction to go. Patrick was the first to exit the narrow tunnel. He grimaced as his feet were covered by sewer water. It came up over the tops of his boots and soaked his socks. There was a long stretch of sewer out in front of him. He stood alone there, just for a moment, while the others made their way out. Patrick thought back to the last time he had been in the sewers. That day seemed years away, not just a couple months. His life could’ve gone differently if he had told Henry to fuck off instead of trying to chase down Ben. Then again, maybe it would’ve ended up the same. Despite how much he and the others tried to avoid getting wrapped up in this mess, they kept winding up in the middle of it. Patrick didn’t believe in god, or fate, or karma, or any of that bullshit, but he couldn't deny that it felt like he needed to be here. That they all needed to be here.

“Stanley!” Richie’s voice rang down the tunnel.

“He’s this way,” Eddie said, stepping in front of Patrick.

“How do you know?” Mike asked.

“I just know. It’s a gut feeling,” Eddie explained.

“A gut feeling?” Ben asked, skeptically.

“It’s more of a clue than anybody else has,” Patrick defended. “I say we follow Eddie’s lead.”

“Lead the w-way,” Bill motioned to him and Eddie began to follow the compass in his head.

As the group started to move forward, Vic was frozen in place. He stood at the entrance to the larger tunnel and stared down at the water.

“I can’t. Henry, I can’t,” he said in a panicked whisper.

Henry’s eyes widened a bit. Vic was ready to charge into a fight with a demon clown, but that didn’t change his fear of the water.

“It’s not deep. It doesn’t even go up to Eddie’s knees,” Henry assured him.

“I can’t see the bottom. It could get deeper and we’d never realize until it’s too late.”

“What’s the hold up?” Richie called. The whole group had stopped when they realized Henry and Vic weren’t with them. Afterall, they needed to stay together.

“Take my hand,” Henry held his hand out. “I won’t let you go under.”

Vic hesitated, but he trusted Henry with his life. He took Henry’s hand and let the other interweave their fingers as he helped Vic into the water.

Vic held onto Henry’s hand like a lifeline and the two hurried to catch up with the group.

Richie glanced down at their hands and raised an eyebrow. “A little gay, don’t you think?” He teased.

Vic opened his mouth to retort, but Patrick spoke before he could. “They’re dating, dumbass.”

Henry and Vic looked at Patrick with identical glares. Was now really the best time to throw them out of the closet?

“Wait really?” Ben asked. Everyone was looking at them now, waiting for answers.

Henry held his breath for a moment. It’s not as if anyone really believed what Patrick said. Henry could easily deny it and that would be the end of it. Or he could tell the truth. Would that really be such a bad thing? Fuck it. 

“Yeah, is that a problem?” He stared back at them.

“No, no of course it’s not,” Ben scrambled to say, obviously worried that he had offended Henry or Vic.

“Yeah, we-we’re cool w-with it. Right guys?” Bill said.

“Yeah,” Mike agreed.

“Well, yeah,” Richie said. “I had my suspicions that Vic was gay, although I thought he’d have higher standards.”

Henry flipped Richie off with his free hand. “What about you, Eddie?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s cool. I already knew. Patrick told me like a week ago,” Eddie said, concentrating more on figuring out where Stan was than paying attention to what was going on behind him.

“For fuck’s sake Patrick. You’re the worst at keeping secrets,” Vic groaned.

“You never said it was a secret,” Patrick defended.

“Pretty sure that was heavily implied,” Belch said.

“I’m not even surprised anymo-” Henry started but was cut off when Eddie shushed him.

“He’s this way. Help me get the door open,” Eddie said, running to a sealed section of the sewers.

Together they pried the door open. It was dark inside the new room, they called out Stan’s name as they shone their flashlights around. He had to be in here. Eddie could feel it. 

No one was quite sure what to do when they found Stan. He was laying on his back while quite possible the least hot woman in the entire world was eating his face.

Belch shouted and ran towards It with a spike out, but It released Stan and slide down another tunnel before Belch could do any sort of damage. The woman disappeared and in her place was the clown. They stood ready to do battle, but instead of attacking, It left.

Belch was at Stan’s side first. He helped the other boy sit up. His face was covered in blood and teeth marks, but thankfully he was still breathing.

“You left me,” Stanley cried as he sat there shaking. “You made me go into Neibolt. You’re not my friends.”

“Shh, Stanly. We would never leave you,” Richie was at his side in an instant, wrapping his arms around his best friend. 

“We love you Stan,” Eddie agreed, trying to console him.

Henry, Vic, and Patrick stood off to the side and let the younger boys comfort their friend. Henry wasn’t sure he’d be a welcome presence at the moment. Patrick couldn’t shake the thought of how It had looked when they found Stan. He remembered what Eddie had told him, about It having more teeth than you’d ever think was possible. The very thought made his stomach churn. It could’ve taken Stan’s head off in a single bite.

Vic couldn’t help but feel guilty. He had held the group up because he was too scared to get in the water. If he had moved faster, they could’ve found him before It had a chance to sink It’s teeth into him. Vic felt like crying as he listened to Stan sob and his friends’ soft words of reassurance. They had already lost Beverly, and then they had very nearly lost Stan for good. Who would be next?

Henry squeezed Vic’s hand, as if he was reading his mind. Vic squeezed it back before pulling his hand away to crack his knuckles.

“I turned around and you were gone,” Stan said in a soft voice. 

“We didn’t even hear you walk away,” Ben said.

“I didn’t go anywhere,” Stan stressed. “I heard someone call my name, so I looked behind me. When I turned back around, everything was different. I didn’t go anywhere, but I was somewhere completely new.”

“It’s trying to separate us,” Belch said, rising back to his feet. “We can’t let that happen. We have to keep an eye on each other.”

“Wait, where’s Bill?” Eddie asked, staring at the empty spot where Bill had been standing.

“Are you fucking kidding me,” Belch groaned. 

“Shit, we’re fucked guys,” Richie was beginning to panic. 

“It’s just going to keep splitting us up,” Ben agreed.

“Everything will be fine,” Henry spoke up to reassure the group. “Eddie, do you think you can find Bill like you found Stan?” Henry asked.

Eddie nodded, “yeah, I think so.”

“You and Patrick will stay up front and lead the way, Vic and I will bring up the rear. The rest of you will be in the middle, stay close to each other. Sound like a plan?” Henry looked around at the group in front of them. They nodded. It wasn’t like anyone else had a better plan.

Eddie looked around, there were several exits from the room they were in now. It was next to impossible to know which one Bill went through, but somehow Eddie knew. He looked at the entrance back into the sewer tunnels and it felt right.

“He’s this way,” Eddie said confidently. He waited for a moment for everyone to get to their feet. Mike took Stan’s hand. He wanted the other boy to know that he wasn’t going to let him out of his sight. They weren’t losing Stan again.

The group followed Eddie and Patrick as they entered the sewer tunnels again. Vic and Henry’s hands reached for each other and the same time. Without take their eyes off the people in front of them, the once again held hands. Vic was still afraid of the water. It was deeper in this tunnel then it had been in the last. He knew the smell of the sewers would never wash out of these shoes. He was more worried now about Henry disappearing. The weight of Henry’s hand in his kept him calm because it meant that Henry was here beside him. 

Henry kept a watchful eye over the group. Bill had been their unofficial leader, but Bill was gone. No one had expect Henry to take charge, but he had. If Henry was honest with himself, he had no idea what he was doing. Everyone was scared. They had just lost Stan, only to lose Bill as soon as they found him. Beverly was still missing. They were being picked off one by one. He was too afraid to blink, as if someone would disappear in the split second his eyes were closed. Eddie seemed sure of the direction they were heading, which made Henry feel a little better.

With all the grace in the world, Patrick came crashing down into the water, cursing as he fell.

“You okay, Pat,” Belch asked.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he said with a small wince. He had caught himself with his hands, which was the only thing that saved him from getting a face full of shitty water, but the impact made his wrist throb with pain.

“Get out of their dude. That’s greywater,” Richie said.

“Greywater?” Belch questioned out loud.

“Hold on a second, I can’t find my flashlight.” Patrick felt around the tunnel floor but it was if his flashlight had vanished. He splashed around, trying to find it, but it was gone. Then, Patrick felt something move against his arm. He pulled his arms out of the water and screamed.

“What the fuck are those?” Eddie screamed, pointing his flashlight at Patrick. Henry struggled to see. Patrick’s arms were covered in wiggly black things. They were leeches, Henry realized. Ones with small wings on their backs like a house fly, but bigger.

“Get them off!” Patrick screamed, trying to claw them off himself. Ben grabbed hold of one and pulled it off with a sickening squelch. There was a small bit of blood on his arm where the leech had been.

“Patrick, listen to me,” Richie said as the others began to pull the leeches from his arm.

It was no use. After they were dropped in the water below, their wings would simply carry them back up and they would attach themselves to Patrick. There were some on his neck now, and his face. Patrick was beginning to look pale, but they weren’t sure if that was due to fear or blood loss.

“Listen to me,” Richie repeated. “This isn’t real. You have to remember that this isn’t real and they’ll go away.”

“Feels pretty fucking real to me,” Patrick said.

“I know it does, but trust me. This isn’t real,” Richie said in a firm voice. “There is no way these things could exist. Their bodys are too big. According to the laws of aviation, there’s no way these things should be able to fly.”

“I don’t think these little shits give a single fuck about the laws of aviation!” Patrick was beginning more. 

“He’s right Patrick,” Belch said. He looked Patrick in the eye, the look begging the other to trust him. “Flying leeches don’t exist.”

“They don’t exist,” Patrick repeated in a rushed voice.

“Yeah, you just watched Stand By Me a few too many times,” Henry said.

“They’re not real. They don’t exist,” Patrick took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. One by one the leeches detached themselves and fell into the water below.

“This is the shittiest way to get a hickey,” Patrick grumbled, rubbing his neck, and they started off again.

The group was even more on edge as the continued. They kept walking through the seemingly endless maze of tunnels until there was an entrance in front of them, leading into a big open room. 

“What the fuck,” Patrick whispered in aw as he stepped into the room. When the other’s entered they realized what he was talking about. There was Beverly, floating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are nearing the end guys! Can you believe it? I can't. The story was originally going to be 16 chapters but with the epilogue I'm planning it'll end up being 17. Hope you're all alright with an extra chapter.
> 
> Did you guys like my Bee Move reference? Or my book references? I was thoroughly amused by both?
> 
> Also if you've never seen the Leech Scene from Stand By Me but it freaked me out the first time I saw it (and every time after that). 
> 
> As usual hit me up on tumblr at http://everythingisnightvale.tumblr.com


	15. Welcome to the Losers Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Losers Club and Bowers Gang face off against Pennywise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Additional Chapter Warnings
> 
> I'd recommend listing to The Ballroom Blitz by The Sweet while reading this chapter.

With all of the impossible things Henry had seen this summer, nothing could’ve prepared him for this. Beverly was lifeless and suspended in the air. She was dirty but she wasn’t bleeding. She didn’t look injured at all, but from where he was standing he couldn’t tell if she was breathing. She didn’t look completely alive and she didn’t look dead, she was somewhere in between. She was just floating there.

“How is she staying up there?” Vic asked in a whisper. He’s not sure why he felt the need to be so quiet.

“Guys, are those,” Eddie trailed off and stared straight up past Beverly.

“The missing kids,” Stan finished for him.

Henry watched the bodies above them slowly floating around. They were most certainly dead. He could see each body in various states of decay. His stomach twisted into knots. These were people he knew, people they all knew. He had sat by some of them in class or walked past them in town. He had never given any of them a passing thought. He hadn’t even really cared when they went missing. They had become nothing more than a face on a poster. It seemed like everyone else in town he was content to let their names fade out of his mind and the grim memories along with them. Everyone had given up on them. Everyone just wanted to forget. Everyone but Bill.

Bill’s parent had given up, but Bill refused to let go. If it hadn’t been for him, everyone floating up there would’ve died and had no one know why. Henry didn’t let himself wonder if Georgie was up there.

“Help me get her down,” Henry hear Ben say, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Belch wrapped his arms around Ben’s thighs and effortlessly lifted him into the air. He hald him there until he grabbed Beverly’s ankle, then he sat Ben back on the ground, Together they helped lower Bev so her feet were once again on the ground.

“Beverly!” Ben called shaking her gently, but she remained unresponsive. Her eyes were colorless and glazed over. “Why isn’t she waking up?” He cried helplessly.

No one said anything. The silence only served to echo the sound of Ben’s heart breaking.

“Beverly please,” he begged, pulling her into a hug. She was so cold it made Ben shiver. He held her close, trying to feel any hint of a heartbeat. There was nothing.

He pulled back and took her face in his hands. He put his lips against hers. He heard his friends call out in surprise. Ben stayed there for a moment, praying that there was some way he could trade his life for hers.

There was a beat of silence when he pulled back, then Beverly gasped. Color returned to her face as she caught her breath.

“January embers,” were the first words out of her mouth. It wasn’t a question, but a statement, one full of realization.

“My heart burns there too,” Ben responded. They smiled at each other and the moment felt so tender and private that Henry felt compelled to look away.

“Jesus fuck,” Richie said with a grin, throwing one arm over Ben’s shoulders and the other over Bev’s. 

They all sighed in relief. They had found Beverly and she was fine. Now they just needed to find Bill and get the hell out of there, but that was easier said than done.

“Do you guys hear that?” Mike asked, and they held their breath, trying to hear what Mike heard. It was the sound of voices. They were speaking softly, but they were close, maybe even in this room. The quietly walked over towards the sound.

Bill was standing there holding Mike’s bolt gun. Mike hadn’t even realized that it was missing. Standing across from Bill was Georgie. Henry recognized his face from when the missing posters first started appearing around town. Henry knew he had been young, but seeing the boy now made it so much more clear. Georgie looked so small standing there in this yellow raincoat. One of his arms had been torn clean off his body. He wasn’t bleeding like someone with a wound like that would. He didn’t seem to care about the injury at all. It didn’t sit right with Henry. 

“Oh my god,” Henry heard Vic gasp, covering his mouth. No one else said anything. They watched Bill talk with his little brother. Bill was crying. Helnry couldn’t see his face from where he was standing, but he could hear it in his voice as he told Georgie that he loved him.

“But you’re not Georgie,” Bill said firmly and he raised the bolt gun to Georgie’s forehead and pulled the trigger.

The thud of the bolt hitting Georgie’s skull echoed through the sewer. The little boy fell backwards and laid there motionless on the ground. For a moment, Henry worried that Bill had been wrong. Maybe it really had been Georgie after all. Was it possible that someone could survive and injury like losing an arm without medical attention? Even if it was, there was no way he was going to survive a bolt to the head.

Henry was almost relieved then the body started shaking. He watched as an arm began to grow and Georgie’s rain coat transformed into the familiar dingy grey suit. It’s limbs shot out to their normal size and Georgie sat up, only it was was no longer Georgie’s face. It was Pennywise.

“Kill It Bill,” someone screamed, and the others joined in. Bill stood there frozen. He had just had to say goodbye to his brother again, and now Pennywise was slowly rising to his feet in front of them. Bill scrambled to cock back the bolt gun and aimed it at Pennywise as he drew closer.

“It’s not loaded,” Mike said, more to himself than to the group. No one seemed to hear him, they were still yelling at Bill to kill It. “Guys, it’s not loaded,” Mike said louder. Again, his words went unheard.

The bolt gun was pressed against Pennywise’s forehead and Bill pulled the trigger. There was no thud this time. Bits of Pennywise’s forehead flicked off as if he had been injured, but the grin on his face told them the truth. Henry remembered watching the extra ammo fall down into the well. The gun was of no use to them now.

Pennywise leaned back and shook violently as he screamed. Henry felt a scream of his own tear out of him against his will, but he wasn’t alone. The others screamed at well. Vic grabbed a hold of Henry’s arm and pulled him back as Pennywise lunged forward. Bill stumbled backwards, landing hard on the ground. Pennywise came down on top of him, his teeth bared, ready to attack. Bill brought the gun up just in time for Pennywise’s jaw to clench around it inside of a part of Bill’s body. He threw the gun to the side, shaking Pennywise loose.

Beverly ran at It, spike in her hand, but It grabbed the spike and threw her off. Mike ran up next but Pennywise pushed him away with such force that Mike went flying back.

Bill threw himself onto Pennywise’s back, shoving a pole into his open mouth.

“Someone help him,” Belch called out, but Richie was already launching himself onto Bill’s back. Stan grabbed one of Pennywise’s arms and Ben grabbed the other, sinking his teeth into it. Vic loaded his slingshot and Belch held a spike over his head. They were both looking for an opening, but there wasn’t one. Pennywise was spinning around, making it impossible to guarantee that they wouldn’t accidentally hit one of their friends.

In a flurry of movement, Pennywise flicked Stan and Ben off of his arms as if they weighed nothing. Richie went flying of next, hitting the ground with a cry of pain. Finally, It grabbed Bill and pulled him over his head and into his waiting grip.

“Bill!” Henry and Eddie called out at the same time as Pennywise pulled Bill in closer, one gloved hand resting on Bill’s throat. Everyone else grouped together and backed away a few steps. No one wanted to risk getting too close and putting Bill’s life in danger.

“Let him go,” Henry growled, his head breaking as he watched Bill slowly stop struggling, as if he was already accepting his fate.

“No,” Pennywise responded. “I’ll take him. I’ll take all of you, and I’ll feast on your flesh as I feed on your fear.”

Patrick couldn’t stop the shiver rolling up his spine. He hated feeling like this, like he was prey. He believed what It said. It could easily eat them all.

“Or,” Pennywise continued, raising a finger, “you’ll just let us be. I’ll take him, only him, and I’ll have my long rest. You will all live to grow and thrive and live happy live. Until old age takes you back to the weeds.”

Was one live worth saving the lives of many? This wasn’t a moral question Henry was prepared to answer. No one was. They didn’t want to admit that they were actually considering leaving.

“Leave,” Bill begged them. “I’m the one who dragged you all into this. I’m s-s-sorry.” A single tear rolled down Bill’s cheek. He didn’t want to die, but he already lost Georgie, he couldn’t lose his friends too.

“S-s-sorry,” Pennywise mocked. They looked at each other, each face held the same uncertainty. 

“Go!” Bill insisted and Pennywise laughed as the group remained frozen in place.

“Guys, we can’t,” Beverly looked around desperately. 

Henry knew she was right. There was no guarantee that Pennywise would actually let them leave unharmed if they left Bill behind. Even if they made it out safely and never had to deal with It again, none of them could live with the guilt of what they let happen to Bill. There was really only one option, but that didn’t make this any easier.

Richie was the first one to break the silence. “I told you Bill. I fucking told you. I don’t want to die. It’s your fault. You punched me in the face, you made me walk through shitty water, you brought me to a fucking crackhead house, and now,” Richie pulled a baseball bat from the massive pile of junk, “I’m going to have to kill this fucking clown.” Richie reeled the bat back and stated Pennywise in the eyes. “Welcome to the Loser Club, Asshole,” and with that he charge at Pennywise. It screamed but Richie was undeterred and he smacked Pennywise across the face with the bat.

Mike stepped up, swinging down the large metal pipe he had picked up. Before it could connect with It’s face, a group of charge hands came out of It’s mouth and grabbed it. A bolt of fear hit Mike, but it quickly faded into anger. He knew what happened to his parents, and he knew it was his fault. Mike had already defeated the demon who had done it, he’d defeat this one too.

Stan picked up a weapon off the ground and hit the arms with as much strength as he could muster. The fence spike tore through them like they were paper and they faded away into nothing. Pennywise turned It’s attention towards Stan now. It’s face morphed into the woman Stan had seen so many times in his dad’s office. It ran towards him, but Stan wasn’t afraid anymore. It had already tried to kill him once today and he had survived. He’d do it again. He swung at It again, hitting it in the shoulder. 

It turned toward Belch now, who stood ready to take whatever came his way. It’s chest burst open and out it poured a swarm of wasps. Belch faltered, he couldn’t exactly punch bugs. Patrick flicked on his lighter and a jet of flames shot out in front of Belch, burning up the insects in front of him. They fell to the ground, burnt to a crisp.

“Come and get me fucker!” Patrick screamed at Pennywise, and he held the can of hairspray out in front of him. Instead of charging Patrick, It turned It’s attention to Vic, who was shooting marbles at It with expert precision. It’s arms morphed into what looked like lobster claws. They snapped at him, but Henry pulled him out of the way before a claw could close around Vic’s body.

Ben grabbed a spike of the ground and charged at Pennywise. He shoved it into It’s back with such force that his hand went inside with it. It roared out in pain, an inky black blood sprayed out of It’s stomach. It’s head turn around 180 degrees and transformed into the decayed face of a mummy. Bandages snapped out, gripping Ben’s face and pulling him in towards It’s snapping jaw. Henry picked up a chain off the ground and swung it at the bandages so Ben could break free.

Ben fell to the ground and stumbled away while Beverly swung a pipe, hitting It in the back. Henry hit it with the chain again and It fell to the ground and began to cough. It coughed for a bit and Eddie winced, as if he could sense what was coming. It’s face morphed into the face of the leper and prompted vomited all over Eddie. Eddie gagged and the others resisted their own urge to vomit. His face screwed up in anger and he yelled, “I’m really gonna kill you.” Eddie didn’t even bother picking up a weapon. He kicked It right in the face.

It rolled backwards and when It looked up again It was wearing a different face. The face of Beverly’s dad was looking at her with a predatory smirk. “Hey Bevy. Are you still my-” Beverly screamed and shoved the pole she was holding down It’s throat. It gagged on the pole before spitting out half of it.

“Oh shit,” Richie exclaimed.

It’s face began to change again. Stringy dirty blonde hair fell past It’s shoulder. The features softened and dark brown eyes, so dark they were practically black, stared into Henry’s. It was so easy to forget how much he looked like his mom until she was sitting there in front of him.

“Henry,” It begged in her voice. “Henry, you won’t let them hurt me, will you? You won’t let them kill me, like you let him.”

Henry pulled the switchblade out of his pocket and flicked it open. “You’re not my mother you son of a bitch!” He ran forward and stabbed it directly in the eye.

Pennywise began to crawl backwards and the kids walked forward. They closed in on It as he leaned back against a hole. It was shaking, obviously hurt, but no one lowered their weapons. It gasped for air.

Henry stepped closer. “That’s why you didn’t kill Beverly, because she wasn’t afraid of you.”

“We aren’t either,” Bill said, stepping up next to Henry. “Now you’re the one who’s afraid, because you’re going to starve.”

Pennywise trembled as Richie handed a pipe to Patrick, who handed it to Henry. Henry held the pipe out of Bill. Bill looked at the pipe and listened to the sound of Pennywise says the rhyme he often muttered to himself. He listened to It stutter through it. It was a refreshing change of pase to hear the stutter in someone else’s voice.

Bill didn’t take the pole from Henry, instead the reached down and pick up a spike off the ground. “Together?” Bill said. Henry smiled at him. Together they raised their weapons, prepared to end this once and for all. Pennywise, flipped backwards into the hole, holding on to the edge. Henry and Bill watched It. They watched as bits of It began to break off and float away, as if It simply didn’t have the energy to maintain a physical form.

“Fear,” It muttered and let go, falling into the waiting darkness.

No one said anything for a moment. No one really believe it was over. After everything they had been through, they had finally won. They did.

“Holy shit,” Patrick breathed out in surprise.

“You can say that again,” Richie said.

“Holy shit!” Patrick said louder, a grin spreading on his face. “We did it.”

“Yeah we did,” Eddie said, and the celebration began. They cheered and hugged each other. No one could hold back their excitement anymore.

Vic put a hand on Henry’s shoulder and spun him around so they were facing. He put his other hand in Henry’s hair and pulled him in close for a kiss.

“Woah,” Stan gasped.

“Hold on, did I miss something?” Beverly asked, watching the scene in front of her.

“Henry and Vic are only Derry’s hottest power couple. Jeez Bev, where have you been,” Richie joked.

Henry and Vic both chuckled as they pulled apart.

“Listen Vic,” Henry started but Vic stopped him.

“Don’t,” Vic said firmly. Henry looked hurt. “I know what you’re going to say, but not here okay? Don’t ruin the moment by said it in a sewer.”

“Fine,” Henry agreed, “but the moment we get out of here.”

“I’m alright with that,” Vic smiled.

“You guys are so gross,” Patrick said as he pulled them both in for a hug.

“Guys,” Belch said softly and pointed over to Bill. Bill was standing there. He was obviously no longer in the mood for celebrating. He was staring and the torn remains of a little yellow rain coat. Bill dropped to his knees in front of it and gently pulled it out of the pile. They could all see the name Denbrough neatly written on the inside tag.

Bill hugged the raincoat close to his chest and began to sob. Henry walked over to him and knelt beside him. He pulled Bill in close to him and let the younger boy bury his head in Henry’s shoulder and cry. They all walked over and joined them, putting their arms around each other in a show of shared strength and connection. They couldn’t get back what they had lost, but together they made sure no one would feel the same loss ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked this chapter! It's not easy to write when you have so many characters in one place together.
> 
> Only two chapters left now. I can't believe this story is coming to an end. I'm excited to finish, but also a little sad. I don't know when I'll write another multi chapter fic again. I'm starting classes again in January, so I'll have to see how much homework I'll have.
> 
> As always, please feel free to swing by my tumblr and say hello. You can find me at http://everythingisnightvale.tumblr.com


	16. Stand by Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The summer is drawing to an end and eleven friends make a promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Additional Chapter Warnings
> 
> I highly recommend you listen to the Stand by Me cover by Bootstraps. That's what I listened to while I wrote this.

“Can you tell what they’re saying?” Patrick asked.

“I already told you know. Asking me every five minutes isn’t going improve my hearing,” Blech grumbled.

“Can you both get away from the window?” Vic asked.

“It’s my window,” Belch pouted. Both he and Patrick stay put. They were peering through Belch’s window blinds staring into the front yard. Vic was sitting on Belch’s bed with his legs crossed, absentmindedly chewing on the skin of his lip. He wasn’t fooling anyone. He wanted to look out the window just as bad as his friends did, but he knew it would do nothing to calm his nerves. 

It felt like an eternity, but it had probably been closer to twenty minutes since the cops had shown up at Belch’s house and asked to talk with Henry. None of them knew what the Derry Police Department wanted with Henry, but Belch’s mom was outside with them, which helped Vic relax a little.

It had been two days now, since they defeated the evil below their town. Vic couldn’t remember the details of those days, only that they had happened. It was as if his nightmare had faded into a dream, the worst was over, but Vic still couldn’t wake up. More than anything, Vic didn’t want to go back to an empty house. None of them wanted to be alone So for the past two days they’ve done nothing but lay around Belch’s house and just be with each other.

Vic looked up when both Patrick and Belch made a small sound of surprise. He raised his eyebrow in question.

“Henry saw us,” Belch explained.

“I told you he would. Now stop being nosy,” Vic scolded. 

The sound of the front door closing echoed through the house. They could hear Belch’s mom say something, most likely to Henry, but she spoke so softly that they couldn’t tell what she said. Vic’s hands gripped the edge up the bed tightly as he waited for Henry to come back. The heavy thud of his boots against the hallway floor as he walked back to Belch’s room. Henry paused in front of the door for a moment. Belch had to grab ahold of Patrick’s shoulder to stop him from rushing over and throwing open the door.

When Henry finally opened the door he felt a little overwhelmed. Of course they wouldn’t have the decency to at least pretend that they weren’t waiting for him. They could’ve pulled out a magazine or something. Anything for them to stare at other than Henry. No one said anything, they just waited.

Henry took a deep breath and held it as he closed the door behind him. He let it out slowly, trying to think of the best way to tell them.“They found my dad,” he said finally.

“And?” Belch urged him to continue.

“He’s alive-” Henry started.

“That’s bullshit!” Patrick exclaimed.

“Patrick,” Vic warned.

“No, he fell down a well. How is the fucker still alive? That’s not fair,” Patrick said. He walked forward and took one of Henry’s hand. Vic and Belch were surprised that Henry didn’t pull away or speak up to cut Patrick’s rant short. “You’re not going back to that house with him Henry. Not after what he tried to do to you and Mike.”

“It’s okay, Pat,” Henry said.

“No it’s not!” Henry winced when Patrick squeezed his hand a little too hard. He pulled it back and rubbed it.

“Will you let me finish?” Henry asked. Patrick frowned but stepped back and took a seat on Belch’s desk, ignoring the perfectly good desk chair sitting next to it.

“They found him,” Henry repeated. “He’s alive, and he’s currently in police custody.” Patrick, Belch, and Vic stared at him, jaws hanging open. That was a bit of a surprise. “You see, he washed out of some sewer pipe and when someone found him, they also found the bodies of the missing kids. They put some pieces together and decided that he’s the one responsible for it all.”

The room was filled with silence. That was unexpected. It made sense, Vic realized, if you thought about it. A police officer could easily lewer kids into a dangerous situation. After all, kids were taught to trust police officers. Not the mention, Butch Bowers had a history of violence. 

“The officer I talked to said it looks like it’ll be a pretty open and shut case. There’s a lot of evidence stacked against him. I won’t even need to testify. In fact, I won’t ever have to see him again.” Henry’s voice cracked on that last word. He had made it through the conversation with the other officers without shedding a single tear, but they came to him now. He was filled with so many emotions, but one he wasn’t feeling was fear. For so long, Henry had been unable to relax. Even the good times were weighed down with what he had to look forward to at home, but never again would be have to dread walking over that threshold. His father couldn’t hurt him any more. 

He wiped the falling tears off of his cheeks and more took their place, but he smiled and his friends smiled to. Vic rose from the bed and walked over to him, tears brimming the corners of his eyes, and he took Henry into his arms.

“You’re free,” Vic whispered. Henry’s smiled grew and he hugged Vic close to his chest. He was, he really way.

“Holy shit,” Henry lifted Vic into the air and spun him around in excitement. They both slipped and fell backwards onto Belch’s bed. They pressed their foreheads together, still giggling. 

“No making out on my bed please,” Belch said, but he was smiling as well.

Henry held his middle finger up at Belch and kissed Vic. It wasn’t much of a kiss, both were smiling too wide to have a proper one, but it was still one of the best kisses of Henry’s life.

Belch made a fake gagging noise while Patrick just laughed. Everything was going to be alright.

\------

It was finally nice outside again. The sweltering summer heat was fading and there was a slight chill to the breeze, a warning that fall was just around the corner. With it, of course came a new school year, but no one wanted to think about that. Henry more so than the others.

The news that Beverly was leaving for Portland wasn’t altogether shocking. She had family there, she couldn’t exactly stay here now that her father was dead. Henry was a bit jealous. She would get to go somewhere new, somewhere where she could completely start over. No one would know her, or the things that her father did. He’d miss her, but somehow he knew she would be happy there. She won’t have to deal with the disapproving, or worse pitying, stares of her classmates, not like Henry will. Walking down the halls as a bully had earned him some ugly glares and fearful glances. When he returned to school, he’d be walking down the schools the son of a murderer. It was bound to be twice as bad, if not worse.

When Henry had called each one of his new friends to tell them of his father’s imprisonment. They had all reacted as if they had been told summer was extended. Richie had cheered so loudly Henry was afraid he’d go deaf. The only one he didn’t call was Mike. Instead he walked to the boy’s farm and told him in person. Mike deserved more than a phone call. The man who killed his parents was going to be behind bars for a long time. Though he had tried not to, Mike cried, which in turn made Henry cry. Henry was getting really tired of crying, but after years of not letting himself shed a tear, it felt refreshing.

So here they were. It was hard to believe in three months Henry had gone from carving his name in Ben’s stomach to sitting with him, sitting with all of them, in a meadow. An actually meadow, like something out of a chick flick, and Henry was happy. Vic was laying in the grass with his head in Henry’s lap, letting Henry play with his hair while they listened to Beverly tell her story of what she saw while she was floating. Henry didn’t want to think about what her vision might have meant. She had seen them, all of them, Henry and the gang included. They were older, but she was sure it was them. They were back in the sewer, and they were afraid. Maybe it had been one possible future. The outcome of what would’ve been had they not found Beverly. It could’ve been just a nightmare. It trying to reawaken Beverly’s fear by showing her that it will never truly end. Or... well, Henry couldn’t let himself entertain that possibility.

Apparently Bill could, because he rose to his feet, holding a shard of glass in his hand.

“Swear it,” Bill said. “Swear if It isn’t dead, if It ever comes back, then we’ll come back too.” Bill had a serious expression on his face. He understood that they had all made this their responsibility. If they hadn’t truly finished the job this time, they would need to come back. There was no guarantee anyone else would. Bill looked around at the faces of his friends. No one looked particularly happy this this plan, but no one said no.

Slowly, one by one they each stood. Despite the fear, no one looked hesitant. Bill waited for each one to rise until they were all standing in a circle. Bill cut his own hand first and Vic winced along with him. He was particular fond of the idea of using a dirty shard of glass for some sort of makeshift blood oath, but it’s not like they had anything better. Henry’s knife had tumbled into the darkness along with It. Bill cut Henry’s hand next, and then Vic’s. He went around the circle, Richie, Eddie, Patrick, Stan, Mike, Belch, Ben, and finally Beverly. Their cuts stung, and the blood drying on their hands wasn’t comfortable, but instead of focusing on that, they focused on how the pain they felt was shared. The event of this summer united them all in a way no one but the eleven of them would ever be able to understand. This was not a promise to protect the people of Derry, this was a promise to come back to each other. To help each other through this again.

Henry took Bill’s hand. He held it tightly to reassure him that he was here now, and he would come back. The all held hands and held on for dear life. The love and bonds between them symbolized in this moment. Henry let the feeling wash over him. The feeling of being love, the feeling of being accepted for who he is. It was overwhelming, but as he looked around he realized that he wasn’t the only one being hit with these feeling. In a way, they all needed each other. They needed this kind of love that they couldn’t get anywhere else. As alone as Henry had been his entire life, he wasn’t anymore. None of them were.

Their hands felt to their sides and Patrick wiped the still wet blood off on his jeans. 

“I should go,” Stan said, breaking the silence. “I hate you.” For a moment, truth rang out in those words, but it was a truth not even Stan could believe so he smiled at them all and the mood lifted. “I’ll see you around.” Stan waved, and turned to leave the group behind.

Mike said his goodbyes, claiming that he had chores waiting for him back at home.

“I should get going too, bye guys,” Eddie said, and he let Richie pull him into a quick hug. As the group watched Eddie disappear over the hill Vic nugged Richie.

“Are you really going to let him walk home alone?” Vic asked.

“Yeah?” Richie said a bit confused, it wasn’t like Eddie didn’t normally walk himself home. Besides, there was no more clown to worry about, and no more bullies. Eddie was safer than ever.

“Don’t you think he’d appreciate the company?” Belch tried to hint, but Richie still wasn’t getting it.

“I don’t know,” Richie said with a shrug.

“Trust us Richie. He wo-would.” Bill smiled at him and playfully shoved him in Eddie’s direction. 

“Oh,” Richie blushed slightly. He never really thought Eddie would want his company. The thought made his heart leap into his throat. “I’ll catch you later. Call me the minute you get to Portland, Bev.” 

“Of course,” she grinned and hugged him.

He waved at the group and chased after his friend.

“We gotta get home. Reg’s mom is making homemade garlic bread tonight to go the spaghetti, and I for one don’t want to be late,” Patrick told them.

“You know you don’t actually live at my house, right?” Belch raised an eyebrow.

“Are you sure?” Patrick teased and Belch sighed, because no, he wasn’t sure. His mom had always had a habit of claiming his friends as her children. 

“You’ll all have to come over for dinner sometimes. You too Bev, the next time you’re in town give me a call,” Belch said.

“For sure,” she smiled.

“I know you can take care of yourself, but if anyone up there give you trouble you can always let us know. We’ll take care of them,” Henry offered and the rest of his gang nodded in agreement.

“Thanks Henry, and if any of they guys tell me you’re giving people trouble, know that I will come back here and take care of you myself,” she threatened.

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep him out of trouble,” Vic promised. They all hugged Beverly and started towards Belch’s car. They knew her goodbyes to Ben and Bill would take a little longer. She had been closer to them then she said the others. They’d need some privacy.

They climbed in Belch’s car and the engine roared to life. Patrick smiled from his new official spot in the passenger seat. Henry rubbed circles on the back of Vic’s hand with his thumb.

Belch popped in his favorite mix tape and grinned. “You know, I don’t think my mom would be too mad if we stopped for ice cream before dinner.”

Henry grinned back. “I won’t tell if you won’t.” There were nods of agreement from Vic and Patrick, and Belch drove off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy smokes! 1 more chapter and that is the epilogue. That'll be posted on Monday. Thank you so much for joining me through this story journey. Thank you for your kudos and kind words. I love you all.
> 
> Please drop by my tumblr and say hi! You can find me at http://everythingisnightvale.tumblr.com


	17. Epilouge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new school year starts and everything is changing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No additional warnings.
> 
> Do me a favor and queue up Little Wonders by Rob Thomas and play it as soon as you finish reading this chapter. Trust me.

Vic wouldn’t say that he was necessarily happy that school was starting again, but after the summer he had it was good to get back to some resemblance of normality. It was good to have a reason to consistently be out of the house. Besides, a part of him actually liked school. That doesn’t mean he was excited to be back.

Vic leaned against the wall of the building and smokes the only cigarette he was likely to get until the end of that day. His schedule was getting tougher, skipping to hang out back and smoke with Henry wouldn’t be an option. He was still kicking himself for not taking a study hall.

Vic looked up at a bike sped past him towards the bike rack. He caught sight of the familiar mop of chocolate curls and the sun glaring off his glasses and smiled.

“Richie, running late already?” Vic asked as the younger boy tried to frantically lock up his bike.

“Late for being early,” he explained. “I’m meeting up with those losers so we can compare schedules.”

“Aren’t you technically one of those losers?” Vic teased with a smirk.

“Yeah, well so are you. Didn’t you get the memo? You, Bowers, and the rest of the gang are all official members of the Losers Club,” Richie told his.

“I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to hear that.” Held fished his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and held it out towards Richie. “Since you’re already late, want to smoke on with me before you go in?”

Richie looked like he really wanted to grab one, but he didn’t. “Sorry I can’t.”

“Trying to quit?” Vic asked.

“Yeah, um,” Richie flushed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Eddie doesn’t like the way they smell on me, or taste.”

Vic’s eyes widened just a bit. “So you finally pulled your head out of your ass and asked him out?”

“Yeah, okay well. Technically he asked me,” Richie admitted.

“Wait seriously?” Vic was surprised. He thought for sure Richie was going to make the first move. Now he owed Belch twenty dollars. “How did that go?”

“It was all a little confusing to be honest. He shows up at my house and rambles on about me being dense, and something about Patrick being right, and when I still didn’t understand him, he kissed me,” Richie recounted the story.

“What does Patrick have to do with anything?” Vic wondered, he knew Patrick and Eddie had gotten closer, he wasn’t sure exactly how close they were, but if Patrick was giving Eddie love advice things could easily go very wrong.

“I don’t want to know,” Richie told him. “So where’s your arm candy?”

“He’s in the office,” Vic answered.

“Seriously? Is he in trouble already? The first day hasn’t even started yet,” Richie laughed.

“No he’s not in trouble,” Vic shoved Richie lightly. “He’s filling out some paperwork. Belch’s parents are fostering him, so they have to fill out some legal guardian things.”

“No shit? Maybe he’ll actually behave this year. I mean, who wants to disappoint Mrs. Huggins?” Richie asked.

“No one with a heart, that’s for sure,” Vic agreed.

Richie glanced down at his watch. “Shit, I gotta get inside. I’ll see you around Vic.” He waved and he went into the building.

“Yeah, see you around Rich.” Vic threw his cigarette on the ground and stomped it out before throwing his backpack over his shoulder. It was time to get this school year started.

\---

Eddie was hard at work organizing his locker. He made sure that all of his school books were in order from his first to his last class and that he had a stash of back up pencils for when Richie inevitably asks to borrow one and then never gives it back.

He shut his locker and began going over his schedule again, determined to have it memorized by the end of the day. Suddenly, the paper was snatched out of his hands. Eddie looked up at the grinning face of Patrick Hockstetter.

“Can I have that back?” He asked annoyed. He had thought they were going to be done with bullying them this year, but apparently Patrick had other ideas.

“Yeah, yeah, in a second. I just want to see what you have,” Patrick said, studying the schedule in his hand. “Oft, you have Mrs. Karmichel for English? You should probably read and reread anything she assigns. She’s a bitch and likes to slip really obscure questions into her pop quizzes. It’s cool though, cause you have Johnson for History and he never assigns homework. All the answers for the tests will be in the study guides he gives, so just memorize those and you’re golden. Oh hey, we’re in the same Bio.”

“You’re in a Sophomore Biology class?” Eddie asked, he was pretty proud when he found out they were going to let him take a course above his grade level. He had always been good with science. Eddie wasn’t surprised if Patrick had failed the class the year before.

“Uh, duh, I am a Sophomore,” Patrick said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Wait, really?” Eddie asked.

“Henry and the others are a year above me, I thought you knew.”

“I guess I just assumed you were all in the same grade. I mean, you’re so tall,” Eddie trailed off, embarrassed that he had thought Patrick was older than he really was.

“Nah, you’re just really short,” Patrick teased and Eddie frowned, grabbing his schedule back. “So, what do you say Eds, lab partners?”

Eddie groaned, of course Patrick would pick up on Richie calling him Eds and start doing it too. “I think I’ll pass.” He wasn't’ interested in working with Patrick. As close as they had grown, he still couldn’t see a version of this that didn’t end badly.

“What if I make you a deal?” Patrick offered. “I’ll do all the dissecting, and you’ll right all the lab reports. That is unless you had a change of heart and want to get a little dirty.” Patrick wiggled his eyebrows.

Eddie thought for a moment. He had forgotten about the whole dissecting part of biology. The idea of being up to his elbows in frog guts with nothing but a thin pair of latex gloves made him shudder. If Patrick was willing to do at least half the work, then would it really be that bad?

“Fine, lab partners,” Eddie agreed.

The smile on Patrick’s face made Eddie instantly regret his decision. “Perfect! This is going to be such a fun year. I’ll see you in third period Eds.” Patrick waved as he began to walk away.

“Don’t call me Eds!” Eddie called after him, causing a few people to turn their heads. No one in their right mind would yell at Patrick like that, but Patrick just laughed as he continued to walk away, leaving everyone else very confused. 

Eddie groaned and hit his head on his locker.

“Eddie Spaghetti! How’s it hanging?” Richie came up and put an arm around his boyfriend. This gesture wasn’t anything new, they’d done it several times before, but now it made Eddie blush. Being close to Richie, knowing now that they were a couple still made him feel giddy.

“You’re late,” Eddie replied. “You were supposed to be here five minutes ago.” He crossed his arms in mock anger.

“I know, I know. I ran into Vic outside and we had a little chat. Speaking of which, what did Patrick want?” Richie asked.

“We’re lab partners I guess,” Eddie responded.

“Does it still feel weird to you? You know, knowing that you’re on Patrick’s ‘No Kill List’?” Richies questioned, and Eddie shrugged.

“A little, but it’s also kind of nice. He’s still weird but he’s not evil. I mean, my mom adores him,” Eddie said as the two begin to walk to where they decided to meet up with the rest of the group.

“Ugh, don’t remind me. I’m so tired of him rubbing it in my face,” Richie groaned. 

Eddie laughed, if Patrick could significantly decrease the amount of your mom jokes Richie told, then he was going to end up being the best lab partner ever.

\---

Ben clutched his books to his chest as he walked down the hallway. There was something exciting about a new school year. It was so full of possibilities. There were so many new things to learn, and better yet, Ben had a plethora for friends to keep him company this year. Ben was so distracted thinking about the fun this new year would hold that he didn’t realize someone was in front of him until they collided. 

Ben’s books fell from his arms onto the floor and he dropped to his knees to pick them up. “I’m sorry,” Ben said looking up at the person he had just hit.

Ben felt his blood run cold as he looked up at the burning glare of the varsity running back of the football team. Ben felt all of his excitement about the new school year disappear in an instant. If that face was any indication, he wouldn’t live to see the end of the school year.

Just when Ben thought his life was over he heard. “Ben?” The running back turned to look at the person behind him with confusion.

“Reg? Hey!” Ben’s face brightened.

“You know this twerp?” The other questioned.

“Yeah, this is Ben Hanscom. He’s a friend of mine,” Belch bent down and helped Ben collect his books, handing them to him as they stood.

While the running back looked at Ben skeptically, Ben was taking in Belch’s appearance. Not much had changed. He was still wearing his usual hat, and a shirt with a band Ben only vaguely recognized but now he also wore a Derry High School letterman’s jacket. 

Ben beamed at him, “you made the team?”

“Yeah, middle linebacker,” Belch said proudly and Ben smiled back at him even though he had no idea what that meant.

“That’s great, I knew you’d make it.”

“My first game is this Friday, you should come,” Belch invited. “In fact, all you guys should come and cheer us on.”

“I don’t know, football isn’t our usual scene,” Ben said hesitantly. If you were a loser at a football game and not sitting in the band section, you looked pretty out of place.

“Henry and the guys will be there too. Patrick even promised not to light anything on fire,” Belch told him.

Ben nodded, not really believing Patrick would keep that promise. He couldn’t believe that knowing Henry would be there made Ben feel safe. It was still a little mind boggling. “Yeah, okay. I’ll be there for sure, and I’ll see if I can rope the other guys into coming too.”

“Awesome,” Belch laid a hand on Ben’s shoulder and squeezed. “I’ll see you around, Ben.”

“Yeah,” Ben said, catching sight of Eddie and Richie. He waved at Belch before starting to walk over to his friends. “I’ll see you around, Reg.”

“Woah, was that Belch?” Richie said, watching the junior wave goodbye to some of his new football teammates and walking down the hall. “He’s rocking out to the jock jam now?”

“Yeah, he made the football team. He invited us all to his first game this Friday,” Ben told him.

Eddie made a face. “Do you know how often they clean those bleachers? Never. They’re covered in food and other mysterious substances.”

“You can always sit on my lap,” Richie suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.

“I think I’d rather sit on the bleachers,” Eddies said with a straight face. Ben laughed as Richie began to rant about Eddie’s cruelty. 

\---

“Man, it su-su-sucks that Mike’s Grandfather is k-keeping him in home sch-school,” Bill complained as he waited for Stan to grabs some things out of his locker.

“Yeah,” Stan agreed. “He said he was going to try and work on convincing him for next year though. Speaking of Mike, did he tell you the news?” Stan asked.

“Wh-what news?” Bill said curiously.

“I guess Bowers got a job working on the farm,” Stan told him.

Bill eyes went wide. “Seriously?” 

Stan nodded. “I guess he’s working out okay. He’s, well I think the word Mike used was respectful. He’s saving up money for a car or something.”

“Th-that’s good. I’m glad,” Bill smiled. He was honestly happy for Henry. He knew things were going to be hard for him now that his father was in jail, but in a way they weren’t as hard as they were before. 

“It’s weird, you know, how much everything changed,” Stan mused as he closed his locker.

“Yeah but it’s not exactly a b-bad thing,” Bill shrugged. Bill let out a small cry as suddenly both him and Stan are roughly pushed into the wall of lockers.

“I guess something never change,” Stan groaned. 

There a hard thud as the student who pushed them suddenly toppled over.

“Watch it klutz,” came the biting tone of Henry Bowers. He walks off down the hall, backpack slung over his shoulder, not even bothering to glance at the guy now on the floor.

“Holy shit, did you see Henry trip that guy?” Richie asked as the rest of the gang approached.

Bill looked down the hallway. He watched as Henry met up with Patrick, Belch, and Vic. Vic gave Henry a small smile. They weren’t out, of course they weren’t. This was Derry after all. Some secrets needed to stay a secret, but Bill could see how they stood closer together now then they ever would’ve dared to in the past. Henry glanced back over his shoulder, looking at Bill. He nodded in acknowledgement, and Bill nodded back.

Bill smiled, the darkness was behind them and the world was full of possibilities, “I think this year is gonna be pretty good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, play the song while you read my rambles.
> 
> I honestly can't believe that this story is over. It has been a very long time since I've been inspired enough to complete a multichapter fic. This story came to me very suddenly. I had joked about a "Patrick Doesn't Die AU" but the more I thought about it the more I realized that it would really change a lot of the story. So I sat down and began to explore the possibilities. In one day I sat down and mapped out the major events of all the chapters.  
> I have fallen in love with this story and I'm sad that it's over. I can't even express how great full I am to have people that continued to love and support me through the writing process. I could never have imagined how well received this story would be. Thank you to everyone who left comments and kudos. That's what helped me keep such a consistent update schedule (Trust me, two chapters a week aren't easy). I don't really have any big project planned for the future. I'm starting school again in January and I'm sure that'll start to eat up a lot of my free time, but I really do love writing. I can't wait for inspiration to strike again.  
> If you're not following me on tumblr (@everythingisnightvale) I highly encourage it. I will be posting bits and pieces of what happens after this story. I can't say for sure if there will be a sequal to this i.e. what would happen when they're adults, but we'll see. Thank you so much!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed Chapter 1.
> 
> If you would like to chat with me about It (Bowers gang especially) my tumblr is http://everythingisnightvale.tumblr.com/
> 
> I'm hoping to get on a regular update schedule. No idea what that schedule is yet. I've already written through chapter 5. For now, expect the next update to be next Monday. If it comes earlier, then so be it.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading. Till next time!


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